The Office for Budget Responsibility raised its forecast for UK public sector net borrowing in 2026/27 to 4.2% of GDP from 3.6%.

CITIC Securities says rapid AI-led growth has lifted headline US activity but masks sectoral divergence: production and credit are overheated while employment and household demand remain soft. The firm judges Fed policy is more likely to be swayed by political forces than by fundamentals; some Fed officials may coordinate with the Treasury to compress long-term yields. Post-midterms, reduced uncertainty could be a short-term positive for risk assets, though increased political polarization could create fresh shocks. Asset scenarios: base-case “hot continuation” — US equities, gold and China A-shares outperform, bonds lag; alternative “cold diffusion” — US Treasuries, gold and A-shares lead. Gold is bullish across scenarios.

Some broker research has suggested copper-clad laminates and PCBs could migrate toward reduced- or no-fabric designs, which would cut fabric usage in the supply chain. Multiple listed electronic-fabric makers said electronic fabric represents about 20% of copper-clad laminate cost and provides benefits for mechanical support, service life, drilling performance and thermal deformation resistance. They said moves to less- or no-fabric solutions are primarily cost-driven and will depend on conditions at downstream copper-clad laminate and PCB firms.