US Redbook weekly commercial retail sales YoY for week to Nov 7 +10.1% vs +10.4% prior.

US equities opened higher: Dow +1.3%, S&P 500 +0.8%, Nasdaq +0.8%. Big tech largely advanced: Alphabet (GOOG.O) +2.6% after launching two new TPUs positioned to challenge NVIDIA; AMD (AMD.O) +5.9%; Meta Platforms (META.O) +3.9%; Micron Technology (MU.O) +1.9%. NVIDIA (NVDA.O) fell about 8.4% at the open amid controversy surrounding Jensen Huang.

Trump said he held a productive call with Qatari PM Al Thani on Iran. He said Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Kuwait favor maintaining the status quo — continuing what he described as the largest maritime blockade in history and launching a new Operation Iron Gate to extend the blockade by sea and land. He said all parties agree Iran must never possess nuclear weapons and there is no room for negotiation. The US is prepared to act if the situation changes, but for now another strike on Iran appears unlikely; Trump said he sees positive momentum toward an end to the conflict and that US interests and Israel are protected.