The latest economic news and market highlights from the UK and abroad.
This week's headlines:
AI sell-off – Jensen Huang dramatically resigned as Nvidia’s CEO after admitting to an affair with an alleged Chinese spy sparking a sell-off in the company’s shares amidst a wider tech-sell off.
UK growth ahead of forecasts – UK GDP grew 0.7% in the third quarter of the year according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). It’s the steepest rate of economic expansion since Labour came to power in 2024.
Anthropic readies for $1.4tn IPO – Anthropic prepare to list on the stock market next week in what could be largest IPO of 2026.
What this means for financial advisers and clients
Situation-chip
Nvidia saw a pretty steep fall over the week after news emerged that it’s CEO Jensen Huang had multiple affairs. Including one with alleged spy Alice Huang (no relation) who may have circumvented a ban on selling the company’s chips to Chinese companies, sparking national security concerns in the US.
The sell-off over the week wiped off hundreds of billions in value of the company’s market capitalisation and called into question Nvidia’s corporate governance and key-man risk.
It’s also made markets nervous about AI-linked firms and how soon capital expenditure in AI could pay off.
Read our take on the AI sell-off here: The whole AI affair - and how to make sense of it
Going for growth
In spite of the war in Iran and energy costs increasing, the UK has managed more growth - putting it on course to be the fastest growing G7 economy in 2026, after the US. The growth was linked to AI spending and tech, with the service sector benefitting particularly.
While these growth figures show households and companies remaining resilient, energy prices however remain a significant burden on future short-term growth, weighing heavily on inflation and cost of living pressures.
Anthropic’s IPO
Anthropic is due to float it’s shares on the stock market next week, seeking a valuation of $1.4tn raising up to $100bn – which would signal robust demand and eclipse SpaceX’s IPO.
The IPO will be a bellwether moment for AI, determining whether investor appetite is still there. $1.4tn is a lot more than the $965bn Anthropic valued itself at in May, and other AI exposed names have had a mixed performance since then in equity markets.
Many cornerstone investors like AMD and Google are investing up to $26bn, showing faith in the company - but also some circular financing. These companies will be suppliers to Anthropic in the future, so they want their long-term customer to succeed, propping up their own market valuations which reflect that spending by Anthropic.
There are signs that the IPO could be fully funded, with many institutions having long lock up periods. But if the cornerstone investors’ capital expenditure is called into question wider impacts could be seen across the market.
We’ve previously taken steps with our asset allocation to avoid over exposure to AI stocks as markets have become increasingly concentrated towards a handful of names. Diversification is key when building portfolios, and this is a reminder of why we need to seek it out wherever possible.
83,000
That's the estimated number of days UK employees are expected to take off next week, according to BrightHR, to play GTA VI, in what's expected to be the largest launch in entertainment history.
According to Ipsos Mori, 71% of adults aged 18-45 surveyed plan to purchase the game with some predicting the game could make £5bn in sales in its first week.
Maybe UK growth will slow next quarter if everyone’s at their controller?
Chart of the week: Russell 1000 total 2026 returns
Source: Creative Planning, YCharts
Why’s this worth sharing?
For the past decade, value stocks have been out of favour, and growth stocks have been dominant. Growth stocks are those companies you expect to have the potential to outperform the market over time, value stocks are those companies that are trading below what they’re really worth.
I’ve seen countless articles over the years trying to predict when the switch from growth to value would happen, and it didn’t. But it has now; the Russell 100 Value index had a 30.7% advantage over its growth counterpart in the year to date to 5th November. Previously large technology companies have driven growth funds, but it looks like that tide might be turning, especially in the wake of a tech-sell off.
The Markets
UK: stronger than expected growth in the economy helped UK equities shake off the global volatility in tech.
US: US markets rebounded strongly overall despite high volatility in the technology sector.
Europe (ex UK): Benefitted from the volatility over global tech as investors may have moved money from US tech stocks into European value sectors.
Japan: Japanese markets saw their strongest week in five months as buyers returned to beaten-down technology shares, alongside upbeat company earnings reports.
Emerging Markets: Emerging Markets stocks rallied as investors sought to buy the dip in Asian semiconductor companies.
| Name | Weekly change | YTD change |
|---|---|---|
| FTSE Actuaries UK Conventional Gilts All Stocks | -0.80% | -0.73% |
| IA Sterling Corporate Bond | -0.05% | 0.12% |
| IA Global High Yield Bond | 0.45% | 1.10% |
| FTSE All Share | 1.93% | 12.77% |
| FTSE USA | 3.98% | 13.25% |
| FTSE World Europe ex UK | 2.71% | 9.81% |
| FTSE Japan | 6.02% | 15.67% |
| FTSE Asia Pacific ex Japan | 6.02% | 15.67% |
| FTSE Emerging | 3.08% | 6.90% |
Source: FE. GBP returns as at close of business on Thursday 12th November 2026.
This article is for financial professionals only. Any information contained within is of a general nature and should not be construed as a form of personal recommendation or financial advice. Nor is the information to be considered an offer or solicitation to deal in any financial instrument or to engage in any investment service or activity. Parmenion accepts no duty of care or liability for loss arising from any person acting, or refraining from acting, as a result of any information contained within this article. All investment carries risk. The value of investments, and the income from them, can go down as well as up and investors may get back less than they put in. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future returns.
