Vucic concedes after Serbia student-list win — October 26, 2026

Top U.S. Stories

• Wall Street fell on Friday: the Dow lost 652.82 points to 52,215.16, the S&P 500 slipped 39.75 points to 7,623.68 and the Nasdaq shed 53.52 points to 25,955.34. Why it matters: Oil above $100 and corporate belt-tightening are feeding worries about inflation and the Fed’s next move.
• U.S. crude settled at $103.27, up 3.8%, as Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia raised fears of wider fighting.
• American Express fell 3.7% after announcing it will cut about 5% of its global workforce to prepare for AI.
• U.S.–Iran talks remain stalled; Iran says messages with Washington are still being exchanged and it remains open to diplomacy, while the U.S. blockade of Iranian ports continues. Why it matters: The Strait of Hormuz is the key chokepoint for oil, so every twist feeds directly into gasoline and heating costs.
• Fed policymakers meet October 27–28, and markets broadly expect a hold, with some risk of a hawkish surprise. Why it matters: Mortgage rates, credit-card costs and stock valuations all key off the Fed’s tone.

Compass Insight

Energy is the thread running through this week. Brent’s climb to its highest settlement since June 2022 pushes up fuel and transport costs, which keeps inflation sticky, which in turn leaves the Fed little room to ease and some chance of tightening further. That is bad news for richly valued growth stocks, especially in AI, where investors are already questioning profitability; Tokyo’s Nikkei fell to 62,693.16 on the same worry. For households, the near-term watch items are the Fed’s statement and any weekend news from the Gulf. Over the longer run, whether Hormuz traffic normalizes, and whether U.S. policy toward Iran shifts after the November midterms, will likely steer oil. None of this is certain.

Markets

• Dow 52,215.16 (-1.23%), S&P 500 7,623.68 (-0.52%), Nasdaq 25,955.34 (-0.21%) at Friday’s close.
• WTI $103.27 (+3.8%); Brent $116.72 (+3.1%), its highest since June 2022.
• USD/JPY about 156.8 (ECB reference rate, Oct. 23).

Stocks in Focus

• American Express: slid after announcing a roughly 5% workforce reduction tied to AI.
• Energy sector: in the spotlight as Brent hit its highest level since June 2022.

Not a recommendation to buy or sell any security.

Also in the news: in Serbia, monitoring group CRTA projected the Student List at 51.5% to the ruling SNS’s 40.4%, and Aleksandar Vucic conceded. These are projections, not official results, and CRTA also reported signs of vote-buying and intimidation.

Auto-generated and AI-written. Not investment advice.