Singapore September seasonally adjusted retail sales -1.0% MoM; prior reading revised to -0.9%.

Houthi forces said on the evening of the 4th they launched multiple strikes inside Saudi Arabia, including a ballistic missile hit on Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport that they said caused severe damage and rendered the airport unsafe; they urged airlines, airport staff and passengers to avoid Saudi airspace except over Mecca and Medina. The Houthi statement also said earlier that day they used a drone to hit a radar facility on the Gaihama peninsula north of Jizan, and fired ballistic missiles at the Akifah military camp in Najran and at a command-and-control building of a Jizan border-guard unit.

Iranian culture minister Saleh said the value of the US midterm results lies not in restoring faith in US politicians or parties but in awakening human conscience, especially among Western youth. He said most Western young people voted against Trump’s war policies and against Netanyahu over the killing of children, and that gives greater hope for the world’s future.