Must read: sea of red across Europe, bitcoin, Crest Nicholson

GLOBAL MARKETS

European markets have opened lower, on track for their fourth straight day of declines, taking their cues from a sell-off overnight in Asia and on Wall Street. Markets await Thursday’s delayed US jobs report and Nvidia’s latest results out tomorrow.

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Fresnillo (LSE:FRES) is at the bottom of the FTSE 100 amid a sharp drop in the price of silver. Other miners are also nursing heavy losses. ICG (LSE:ICG) is the top gainer after Amundi took a stake in the company. Imperial Brands (LSE:IMB) is also bucking the negativity thanks to a rise in annual profit.

US futures are pointing lower, with markets on track for further declines after the S&P 500 fell for a third straight day on Monday. However, Alphabet Inc Class A (NASDAQ:GOOGL) rallied to a record high after Berkshire Hathaway Inc Class B (NYSE:BRK.B) took on a $4.9 billion stake in the tech giant in one of its final investment decisions under Warren Buffett. Alphabet is the best performing Mag7 stock in Q4 to date. Meanwhile, this morning Sundar Pichai CEO of Alphabet told the BBC, "no company is going to be immune" if the AI bubble bursts.

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Precious metals are falling for a fourth day as investors question the likelihood of a Federal Reserve rate cut next month. Gold is under pressure, down by about 1.6%, breaking back below $4,010 per ounce. Silver is nursing heavier losses, shedding almost 3%, pushing below $50 per ounce.

There was a sea of red in Asia overnight with the Nikkei falling more than 3%, the biggest one day drop since April, while the Japanese yen fell to a 10-month low against the US dollar. The ASX, the HSI and the Kospi all dropped too, amid the risk-off mood.

BITCOIN

Bitcoin is extending losses, trading around $90,000, shedding around 2% fuelled by concerns about overvaluations in the tech sector and broader risk-off sentiment that is causing a ripple effect across global markets. Bitcoin has now turned negative for 2025 after peaking on 6 October at an all-time high above $126,000 and has subsequently shed about 28.5%. Earlier, it briefly broke below $90,000 for the first time in seven months.

This year was meant to be the year of the bitcoin bulls supported by a highly crypto friendly administration in the White House and Trump’s ‘less is more’ approach towards regulation.

However, fears of an AI bubble and concerns about the market’s heavy dependence on a handful of tech giants have caused investors to dial back their exposure to speculative assets such as bitcoin. There’s a general sense of nervousness that has captured the market mood lately and bitcoin appears to be in the firing line. Plus with hints that the Fed might not cut rates next month, riskier non-yielding assets like bitcoin look less attractive in a higher interest rate environment.

CREST NICHOLSON

Crest Nicholson Holdings (LSE:CRST) has issued a profit warning – it now expects adjusted pre-tax profit to come in at the low end or marginally below guidance for £28-38 million. The company is cutting costs including plans to close one office, which would put 50 jobs at risk.

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Higher for longer interest rates have hit housing affordability and buyer demand. Plus, there is a lot of uncertainty for the sector ahead of the Autumn Budget, with speculation about possible changes to National Insurance Contributions on rental profits and changes to the Stamp Duty Land Tax.

Shares have plunged around 10% this morning, extending recent losses having already shed 15% over the past six months before today’s update.