Weakness in the equity markets continued in October. Share prices generally ended the month in the red due to fears of overinvestment in artificial intelligence (AI) and rising oil prices. Regarding the latter, the price of Brent crude climbed to USD 118.- per barrel following Houthi attacks in Saudi Arabia and tensions in the Strait of Hormuz region. Separately, bond prices however, rose, as the Federal Reserve (Fed) kept its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 4% for the upper bound. Globally, equities fell by 1.6%, whilst bonds rose by 1.4%, demonstrating the benefits of diversification.