Bloomberg - Evening Briefing - The verdict on Xi

A sense of exasperation swept across Chinese markets as Xi Jinping moved to stack his leadership ranks with loyalists. Stocks capped their worst day in Hong Kong since the 2008 global financial crisis and the yuan weakened to a 14-year low. China’s lurch toward one-man rule has made it more important than ever for investors to align portfolios with the priorities of Xi, but some have decided it’s not worth the trouble. The richest tycoons doing business in China have lost more than $12.7 billion in the market selloff that’s followed his consolidation of power. —Natasha Solo-Lyons

Ukraine’s allies are increasingly concerned that desperation over battlefield failures may lead Russia to escalate its war, possibly attacking a target like a dam or even using a weapon of mass destruction. Unsubstantiated Russian allegations about dirty bomb threats and Kyiv’s alarm over potential false flags by the Kremlin triggered warnings to Moscow from the office of US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin.

Lloyd Austin Photographer: Leigh Vogel/UPI

Nearly three-quarters of European consumers are cutting back spending on everyday items, including food, to make ends meet amid a worsening cost-of-living crisis. A new survey shows that 71% of consumers across six key markets in Europe have already made significant changes to how they shop as they cope with inflation.

Rishi Sunak is set to be UK prime minister after his last remaining Tory rival, Penny Mordaunt, pulled out of the race for 10 Downing Street.  The ruling Conservative Party confirmed Sunak has been elected its leader.

US business activity contracted in October for a fourth-straight month as concerns about inflation and sluggish demand weighed on the outlook. 

Stocks rallied for a second straight session as investors geared up for for some of the world’s biggest companies to report earnings this week. Here’s your markets wrap.

One of Wall Street’s most vocal bears is doubling down on his short-term bullish call on equities—a week after his initial view was met with client skepticism.

Rent gains are finally starting to slow in many parts of the US, cooling a years-long boom that sapped affordability from coast to coast. Landlords have little choice but to ease off big increases: Demand from tenants is suddenly sinking.

A rental unit apartment building in New York. Photographer: Gabby Jones/Bloomberg

Bloomberg continues to track the global coronavirus pandemic. Click here for daily updates.

• Bloomberg Opinion: The lonely Tory defending UK fiscal restraint.
• Bloomberg Opinion: Sunak is a new and old-fashioned Conservative.
• Bloomberg Opinion: California poised to become world’s No. 4 economy.
• Declining I bond rates make these alternatives look more appealing.
• Crypto is more attractive as SEC gets aggressive, investors say.
• Dove and other Unilever dry shampoos recalled over cancer risk.
• The fantasy of instant delivery is imploding.

Blue Bottle Coffee is known for meticulously brewed, smooth espresso— and the crowds that line up to buy it. Now the famed Bay Area roasters are getting into the instant coffee business, a category that’s gone from punchline to craft brew as more specialty brewers get in the game. On Nov. 7, Blue Bottle will start selling jars of Blue Bottle Craft Instant Espresso, freeze-dried crystals that can be stirred by the teaspoonful into warm water or milk and served in multiple espresso drinks, from iced to steaming hot.

Photographer: Jennifer West/Bloomberg

Get the Bloomberg Evening Briefing: If you were forwarded this newsletter, sign up here to receive it in your mailbox daily along with our Weekend Reading edition on Saturdays.

Bloomberg Growth Summit: Companies are finding they have to work harder to keep their customers and attract new ones. Join us in New York or virtually on Nov. 3 as top executives from some of the world’s most exciting companies discuss how they are taking their businesses to the next level with customer-centric strategies. Register here.