Gold pushed to a six-week high on Monday, lifted by swelling expectations of U.S. interest-rate cuts and a weakening dollar that reinforced demand for the metal.

Silver surged to its own record peak as traders piled into precious metals ahead of a heavy week for U.S. economic data that is expected to influence the Federal Reserve’s final policy signals of the year.

Spot gold inched up 0.1% to $4,233.83 per ounce at 11:15 a.m. ET (1615 GMT), its strongest level since October 21. U.S. gold futures for February delivery rose 0.3% to $4,266.60. The move reflects a wider shift in global markets as softer U.S. data and increasingly dovish remarks from Fed officials intensify bets that the central bank is preparing to pivot toward easing.

Silver jumped 3.1% to $58.09 after touching a fresh all-time high of $58.23 earlier. The metal has now climbed more than 100% this year, a surge driven by industrial demand linked to energy transition spending, tightening physical supply conditions, and sustained safe-haven flows.

The dollar’s slide to a two-week low added more fuel to the rally, making gold cheaper for overseas buyers.

“The underlying environment of expectations of further rate cuts, along with inflationary pressure still above the Fed target… is still the underlying support in gold and silver,” said David Meger, director of metals trading at High Ridge Futures.

Fed expectations shifted sharply after cautious economic indicators in recent weeks and dovish commentary from Governor Christopher Waller and New York Fed President John Williams. Markets now see an 87% chance of a rate cut in December, based on CME’s FedWatch tool, giving non-yielding assets like gold more room to climb.

Attention is now turning to a packed data calendar. Wednesday brings November’s ADP employment print, while Friday delivers the delayed September Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) Index — the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge. Fed Chair Jerome Powell will also speak later on Monday, and traders say any softening in tone could push rate-cut bets even higher.

There is also a political undercurrent running beneath the metals rally. While gold typically rises when rate-cut expectations grow, some analysts say the metal’s persistent strength this year also reflects investor caution about the economic environment under President Donald Trump as markets try to assess how the administration’s policy direction, personnel shifts, and fiscal posture may influence inflation, trade strategy, and interest-rate stability heading into 2026. The view is not universal, but it has become a recurring talking point among traders who note that investors often use precious metals as a hedge when political and economic navigation feels uncertain.

Speculation around the coming transition at the Fed is adding an additional layer. White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett said on Sunday that he would be willing to serve as the next Fed chair if selected. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent indicated that a nominee could be named before Christmas, a development that has kept traders alert, given the potential policy implications of a more dovish successor.

Despite the steep rally, analysts say the broader trend still points upward. “We still view gold and silver in a strong sideways to higher uptrend,” Meger said.

Elsewhere in the complex, platinum fell 0.8% to $1,659.03 and palladium dropped 1.4% to $1,429.68 as the extraordinary rallies in gold and silver continued to dominate investor focus.

Michael Burry has found a new target in his widening clash with the world’s most powerful tech names — and this time, he’s aiming straight at Elon Musk.

The investor known for the subprime mortgage call that inspired The Big Short said on Sunday night that Tesla’s valuation “is ridiculously overvalued today and has been for a good long time.” The remark appeared in a fresh post on his Substack, published days after he revealed bets against Nvidia and Palantir.

Burry argued that Musk’s newly approved $1 trillion compensation plan will further dilute Tesla’s shares over time. He also delivered one of his sharpest jabs yet at Musk’s shifting product pitches.

“The Elon cult was all-in on electric cars until competition showed up, then all-in on autonomous driving until competition showed up, and now is all-in on robots — until competition shows up,” he wrote.

A Long-Running Grudge Match

This is not Burry’s first swing at the company. In 2021, he wagered against about $530 million worth of Tesla stock before exiting the trade months later, explaining to CNBC that it had been “just a trade.”

His latest salvo arrives as Tesla’s stock trades at more than 250 times earnings — far above traditional automakers — a valuation that even long-time short seller Jim Chanos said in 2023 was inflated.

Burry has spent the past year calling the surge in AI-linked stocks a bubble. After disclosing short positions against Nvidia and Palantir last month, he traded barbs with both companies online. In November, he deregistered his hedge fund and moved his commentary to Substack, where he has been more vocal.

Musk’s Response as Tesla Shares Climb

Tesla’s stock is up 11% in 2025, buoyed by the company’s robotaxi push. Musk, who often spars with short sellers, has insisted that Tesla will become the world’s most valuable company.

His $1 trillion pay package, approved by Tesla shareholders last month, hinges on the carmaker’s valuation rising to $8.5 trillion within ten years. That target is nearly twice Nvidia’s current valuation.

Tesla still leads the US EV market with about 41% market share as of August, though that number has slid as rivals push their own models into the market.

Musk argues that the company’s future rests on two pillars: its robotaxi program and its humanoid robot, Optimus. Both lines face growing rivalry from firms like Google-backed Waymo and China’s Unitree, which has gained attention with its lower-cost robotics platform.

A Wider Tech Showdown

Burry’s campaign puts him at odds with nearly every major force in the tech rally. He has attacked AI exuberance, questioned the basis of trillion-dollar pay packages, and now taken aim at the flagship company of the EV and automation race.

For investors, the fight between the man who foresaw the housing collapse and the man steering the most polarizing automaker on the planet adds a fresh layer of drama to a market already running hot on expectations of AI-fueled transformation.

Investors, now driving one of the most heated valuations in global markets, are expected to determine whether Burry’s warnings gain traction this time — or whether Tesla’s momentum continues to defy skepticism.

India’s industrial engine registered a sharp slowdown in October 2025, with the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) growing a meager 0.4%, marking a 14-month low that signals a significant pause in economic activity.

The figure fell dramatically short of the 4.0% growth recorded in September and the 3.1% growth expected by economists in a Reuters poll, dampening the optimism fueled by recent headline GDP numbers.

The Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation attributed the weak performance largely to the calendar effect, noting a smaller number of working days in October due to major national festivals, including Dussehra and Deepawali. The 0.4% increase represents the lowest growth rate since August 2024.

Sectoral Deceleration and Contraction

The three primary sectors that constitute industrial output exhibited a mixed, yet overwhelmingly negative, performance:

Manufacturing Sector: Growth in the largest component of the index slowed sharply, rising just 1.8% in October compared with a healthy 4.8% in September, indicating a loss of momentum as pre-festive inventory building concluded.

Mining Activity: The sector contracted, deteriorating by 1.8%.

Electricity Production: The most significant decline was seen in the utility sector, which plunged by 6.9%.

The growth rates of the three sectors for the month of October 2025 are thus Mining (-1.8%), Manufacturing (1.8%), and Electricity (-6.9%).

The Paradox of GDP and Forward Outlook

The sharp industrial slowdown in October creates a divergence with the strong macroeconomic performance reported just prior. The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation data showed that India’s economy grew faster than expected in the quarter ending in September (Q2 FY26), at a robust 8.2%, up from 7.8% in the previous quarter (Q1 FY26).

October was a crucial month for the economy, as New Delhi had rolled out Goods and Services Tax (GST) reductions, effective September 22, specifically to spur domestic consumption and soften the blow from the 50% U.S. tariff on Indian goods. The IIP data tracks short-term changes in output across a basket of industrial products, where eight core industries, including steel, cement, electricity, and fertilizer, account for 40% of the index’s weight.

Despite the tariffs and the low October output, economists suggest the underlying domestic economy remains robust. Dipti Deshpande, principal economist at S&P Global-owned Crisil, stated that “sturdy consumption demand” will partially offset the negative impact of weaker export demand between October and December, providing a beneficial cushion for the manufacturing sector.

She added that robust rural incomes, low inflation, reduced interest rates, and tax relief “should keep consumption healthy.”

However, she cautioned that the government is “likely to moderate its capex in H2 [October-March] to meet fiscal deficit target amid subdued tax collections,” a potential drag on the infrastructure and capital goods segment moving forward.

Analysis: Impact of the 50% U.S. Tariff

The 50% U.S. tariff, which escalated from a 25% duty in early August, has caused immediate and profound damage to India’s export sector. The tariff impacts over half of India’s exports to its largest trading partner, the United States, placing approximately $48.2 billion worth of goods (based on 2024 export values) at risk.

The steepest damage was concentrated in sectors where India holds a competitive edge and which are crucial for domestic employment. These labor-intensive sectors—including textiles and apparel, gems and jewelry, leather and footwear, solar panels, and chemicals—faced the full 50% duty, which has been cited as a punitive measure linked to India’s continued purchase of Russian energy.

Exports in this critical group plummeted by 31.2% between May and October 2025, according to the Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI). This tariff regime renders Indian goods among the most heavily taxed in the U.S. market, creating a severe cost disadvantage against rivals like Vietnam and Bangladesh.

The resulting weaker export demand is directly reflected in the IIP data, where manufacturing output grew only 1.8% in October, a significant deceleration from 4.8% in September. This is despite the pre-festival inventory building that typically precedes the holiday season (Dussehra and Deepawali, which ironically contributed to fewer working days and the overall low 0.4% IIP number). The tariffs have triggered volatility and a broad market correction in export-linked sectors, leading to a decline in engineering goods exports by 16.71% year-on-year in October.

Recognizing that it could not immediately reverse the U.S. tariffs through negotiation, New Delhi deployed the GST cut as a tool to substitute external demand with sturdy domestic consumption, creating an internal “shock absorber” for the economy.

First HoldCo Plc has confirmed to the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) that it has completed the sale of its 100 percent equity stake in FBNQuest Merchant Bank Limited to EverQuest Acquisition LLP, bringing a long-running restructuring of its investment banking and asset management subsidiaries to a definitive close.

The announcement, contained in a regulatory filing dated November 27, 2025, states that all approvals from the Central Bank of Nigeria have now been secured, making the transaction final and formally ending FBN Holdings’ ownership of the merchant banking franchise.

EverQuest Acquisition LLP is said to be a consortium comprising Custodian Investments Plc, Aion Investments, and Evercorp Industries.

The road to divestment

The journey toward this exit began in September 2024 when FBN HoldCo revealed its intention to sell FBNQuest Merchant Bank as part of a wider portfolio rebalancing effort. At the time, the Group pointed to the need to reinforce its core commercial banking operations, which account for the bulk of its revenue, market share, and long-term growth prospects.

According to a report by Nairametrics:

• EverQuest emerged as the preferred buyer after a competitive bidding process.
• The sale was framed as a “strategic separation” that would streamline the Group’s HoldCo structure.
• The transaction was aimed at sharpening FBN HoldCo’s focus on commercial banking and accelerating its digital banking push.

Analysts were broadly aligned in their view that the divestment was both tactical and overdue. Under the HoldCo model, banks often face higher regulatory capital requirements tied to small subsidiaries. FBNQuest Merchant Bank, contributing less than 5 percent of Group revenue and assets, had long been seen as a business with limited scale relative to the Group’s larger ambitions.

Some analysts have argued that trimming non-core operations would eliminate regulatory drag, support a cleaner capital structure, and help unlock shareholder value. The move also aligned with a wider pattern in the Nigerian banking sector where HoldCos have been pruning subsidiaries to focus on segments with stronger margins and faster digital adoption.

What the completion signals for the market

With the completion of the sale, FBNQuest Merchant Bank is now fully out of the FBN Holdings umbrella. EverQuest Acquisition LLP assumes complete operational and strategic responsibility for the franchise.

The new owners bring a mix of institutional investment backgrounds, and the market will be watching for whether EverQuest adopts a more aggressive expansion stance in corporate finance, structured credit, and capital markets. It is notable that EverQuest is stepping into a merchant banking sector that has grown more competitive, driven by rising demand for advisory services, debt capital structuring, and private-market deals.

The divestment brings immediate clarity to FBN Holdco’s business model. The Group can now redirect capital, talent, and managerial attention toward higher-growth areas, which include commercial banking, consumer lending, agency banking, and payments. This shift fits neatly into a broader strategy of pushing digital financial services more forcefully across Nigeria, where electronic transactions and mobile banking continue to expand.

In addition, the sale reshapes competitive dynamics in merchant banking. EverQuest’s entry adds a new layer of competition to a space heavily influenced by institutions that blend investment banking, capital markets, and structured finance.

Meanwhile, FBN HoldCo’s focus on strengthening its main banking franchise   reinforces a broader trend among Nigeria’s tier-one banks. Several have scaled back non-core subsidiaries in response to higher regulatory scrutiny, rising capital thresholds, and the need to maintain leaner operating models.

Legacy and background of FBNQuest Merchant Bank

FBNQuest Merchant Bank began life as Kakawa Discount House before being acquired by FBN Holdings in 2014. It secured regulatory approval to operate as a merchant bank in 2015. Over the years, it has built capabilities in corporate banking, treasury operations, structured finance, and investment banking advisory.

Yet despite its reputation and niche strengths, the bank remained a relatively small piece of the FBN Holdings empire, contributing under 5 percent of Group revenue and assets. The decision to sell it fits within a deliberate, multiyear internal evaluation of how the Group allocates capital under the HoldCo structure.

Looking ahead, with all regulatory and transactional processes concluded, the focus will now shift to two critical issues:

• How EverQuest plans to reposition FBNQuest Merchant Bank in a market where competition is intensifying.
• How FBN HoldCo leverages the released capital and operational clarity to accelerate growth in commercial and digital banking.

The transaction is widely seen as one of the most consequential corporate realignments in Nigeria’s financial services industry this year, setting the stage for both institutions to pursue sharply different growth paths.