Market Overview

US stocks saw gains with $S&P 500 Index (.SPX.US)$ rising over 1%, marking its best weekly gain in seven weeks, while $Nasdaq Composite Index (.IXIC.US)$ surged 1.6%. Investors returned to small-cap stocks, lifting the small-cap index by 1.7%. Tech stocks were bought on dips, except for $Apple (AAPL.US)$ and $Amazon (AMZN.US)$ , with $Tesla (TSLA.US)$ and $NVIDIA (NVDA.US)$ both rising approximately 5%. Cybersecurity leader $CrowdStrike (CRWD.US)$ , hit by global IT issues, dropped over 13%, nearly wiping out its gains for the year. Some "Trump trades" cooled off, with electric vehicles and solar stocks rising while oil stocks declined.

The US presidential election added uncertainty over the weekend, initially pulling down US bond yields, the dollar, and boosting gold as investors sought safe havens. However, panic subsided later, with the VIX volatility index falling 10% from its highest in nearly three months.

Oil prices briefly fell over 1%. Commodities overall continued to decline, with metals taking a significant hit.