Nov 5 (Reuters) - US stocks dropped sharply on Thursday, with the Nasdaq ​poised to confirm correction territory as steep losses in chip and data center-related stocks weighed a day after the ‌Democrats' sweeping midterm election victory powered a broad-based rally.Qualcomm (QCOM.O), slid 9% after the chipmaker fell short of Wall Street estimates for fourth-quarter smartphone chip sales on sluggish demand and declining Apple-related (AAPL.O), revenue.

Nov 5 (Reuters) - The Nasdaq slid more than 10% from its ​record close on Thursday, on track to confirm a correction as ‌worries over massive AI spending and heightened scrutiny of data-center expansion rattled tech stocks.

NEW YORK, Nov 5 (Reuters) - US regulators contacted banks to check whether their systems had any ‌vulnerabilities after last week's $6.3 billion hack of Binance, alert to the risks that a hack in crypto markets could affect traditional finance at a time that links have tightened.

NEW YORK, Nov 5 (Reuters) - After Democrats seized control of the US Congress, investors are focused on the risk of standoffs over the government's borrowing ​limit, with the potential for political brinkmanship to unsettle markets.

WASHINGTON, Nov 5 (Reuters) - US worker productivity grew faster than expected in the third quarter, depressing labor costs and supporting views that the labor market ​was not a source of inflation.

Nov 5 (Reuters) - Cleveland Federal Reserve President Beth Hammack said on ​Thursday the US central bank has more work to do to get inflation down to its ‌2% target, as price pressures remain unacceptably high.

LONDON, Nov 5 (Reuters) - Chip stocks fell on Thursday, under ​pressure from concern about the possible restraint on the AI buildout from a Democrat-controlled US Congress, while oil bounced, as investors weighed up how ‌soon the Iran war could realistically end.

Nov 5 (Reuters) - Gold prices extended their post-US midterm election rally to ‌a more than two-week high on Thursday, as the US dollar and Treasury yields weakened, while oil held below $100 a barrel and eased some inflation concerns.

FRANKFURT, Nov 5 (Reuters) - Rising public debt and the rapid expansion of non-bank finance could curb the European Central Bank's ability to set the appropriate monetary ​policy, ECB board member Isabel Schnabel said on Thursday.

TORONTO, Nov 4 (Reuters) - Canada's services economy contracted for a fifth straight month in October as trade uncertainty and rising prices weighed on ​activity, S&P Global's Canada services PMI data showed on Wednesday.

OTTAWA, Nov 4 (Reuters) - A ​senior Canadian cabinet minister said on Wednesday ‌the US midterm results would not change Ottawa's stance towards trade talks with the US, adding he ​would speak soon to his American ​counterparts.* Democrats seized control of both the Senate ⁠and House of Representatives, blaming rising costs ​on the war with Iran and President Donald ​Trump's policy of imposing tariffs on goods from major trading partners such as Canada.

WASHINGTON, Nov 4 (Reuters) - Democrats’ takeover of Congress and growing Republican unease over Israel could trigger the biggest reassessment of US support for its closest Middle East ally in decades, ​after an election shaped in part by anger over the Iran war.

India’s cabinet approved on Wednesday an incentive policy worth 28.14 billion rupees ($297 million) to boost domestic processing of lithium and nickel, the government said in a statement, in a move aimed at reducing the country’s reliance on supply chains dominated by China.India has a high import dependence on critical minerals such as lithium, and tighter conditions following export controls by China create potential supply-chain vulnerability, the government had said in March.

WASHINGTON, Nov 4 (Reuters) - The crypto industry's roughly $200 million spending spree this election stumbled Tuesday, as some of its most expensive and high-profile targets, including the Senate race in Ohio, did not go its way.While the industry ​won most of the races it targeted, those losses raised questions among lobbyists about whether it had backed ‌the right candidates.

TORONTO, Nov 4 (Reuters) - The Canadian dollar strengthened to a seven-week high against its US counterpart on Wednesday as Canada's trade surplus widened and after ​a sweeping victory by Democrats in the US midterm elections led ‌to broad-based declines in the greenback.

Appian Capital Advisory has deployed about 70% of the International Finance Corporation’s (IFC) initial $100 million commitment under a flagship mining investment vehicle launched last year into projects in Ghana, Namibia and Brazil.The IFC, the private-sector arm of the World Bank, launched the $1 billion partnership with Appian in 2025.Almost all of the capital has been invested within 12 months, Appian Chief Executive Michael Scherb told Reuters last week.

Michael Flacks, chairman of US-based industrial turnaround investor Flacks Group, said he was ready to take over Italy’s troubled former Ilva steelworks but wanted the government to commit at least €1 billion ($1.1 billion) in financial support.“Nobody can buy Ilva without state help,” Flacks told Reuters, saying he had asked the government for a loan of at least €1 billion, rather than a grant.“The problem is that the government cannot make a decision,” the British businessman said. “I was the best option and they know I’m the best option.”

Iron ore prices rebounded on Wednesday, supported by short-covering and expectations that steelmakers in top consumer China will begin restocking ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday.The most-traded iron ore contract on China’s Dalian Commodity Exchange DCIOcv1 closed daytime trade up 1.56% at 682 yuan ($102.01) a metric ton after a 0.7% fall on Tuesday. It earlier touched its highest since October 29 at 685 yuan.The benchmark December iron ore SZZFZ6 on the Singapore Exchange climbed 1.27% to its strongest since October 29 at $91.85 a ton, as of 0732 GMT.

WASHINGTON, Nov 4 (Reuters) - The US trade deficit narrowed slightly in September, though imports increased to a record high amid an artificial intelligence spending spree by businesses.

Nov 4 (Reuters) - AI-driven corporate borrowing isn't crowding out demand for ‌US Treasuries, according to the latest meeting of the Treasury Borrowing Advisory Committee, which cautioned that the financing boom is still in its early stages.