Global stock markets start the week flat as inflation remains top of mind

Good evening, Bull Sheeters. This is Fortune finance reporter Rey Mashayekhi, filling in for Bernhard through Wednesday while he takes a well-deserved break.

Let’s dive into an altogether so-so start to the week for the global markets.

Markets update

U.S.

• In New York, the major indexes were virtually flat on Monday despite President Biden signing the $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill into law. The Dow and the Nasdaq each shed less than 0.1%, while the S&P was down fractionally.
  
• Tesla continued its selloff in the wake of CEO Elon Musk’s tweets about dumping stock, with the electric carmaker’s market cap falling below $1 trillion.
  
• A SPAC formed by two former L’Oreal executives is merging with beauty brands Obagi and Milk Makeup in a deal valued at around $1.2 billion.
  
• WeWork’s first quarterly earnings report as a public company revealed losses exceeding $800 million.
  
• Calls are growing louder for the Federal Reserve to taper its asset purchases amid spiking inflation.

Europe

• The European bourses notched up across the board Monday. London’s FTSE picked up less than 0.1%, Frankfurt’s DAX gained 0.3%, the CAC 40 in Paris rose 0.5%, and the pan-European STOXX 600 climbed nearly 0.4%.
  
• It’s the end of an era: Royal Dutch Shell is fleeing the Netherlands for the U.K. The oil giant ditching its dual British and Dutch corporate structure, dropping the “Royal Dutch” from its name, and moving its headquarters to London.
  
• European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde acknowledged that inflation “will take longer to decline than originally expected” but said it’s unlikely that the ECB will raise interest rates next year.
  
• Spanish lender BBVA is doubling down on Turkey by offering $2.6 billion to buy out the half of Turkish bank Garanti that it doesn’t already own.
  
• European authorities were reportedly blindsided by a Chinese state-controlled company’s 2018 acquisition of Italian military drone maker Alpi Aviation.

Asia

• Asian markets had a mixed day. Tokyo’s Nikkei climbed 0.6% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose nearly 0.3%, but markets on mainland China slid with Shanghai’s SSE Composite dipping nearly 0.2% and Shenzhen’s SZSE Component falling nearly 0.5%. South Korea’s KOSPI gained 1%.
  
• The Nikkei’s positive day came despite economic data that showed Japan’s slowing economy contracted 3% on an annualized basis in the third quarter.
  
• Conversely, upbeat data on China’s industrial output and consumer spending in the month of October couldn’t prevent the mainland markets from dipping.
  
• Monday brought the official launch of the Beijing Stock Exchange, which is designed to list small and medium-sized businesses in China.

Elsewhere

• Gold retreated slightly, even as inflation worries have pushed the safe haven higher recently.
  
• The dollar continued its rebound.
  
• Crude oil was mostly flat, with Brent settling at north of $82/barrel.
  
• Bitcoin pulled back to under $64,000.

***

That’s all for now; please be sure to check out today’s reads below. Have a wonderful evening and see you tomorrow.

Rey Mashayekhi
@reym12
rey.mashayekhi@fortune.com

As always, you can write to bullsheet@fortune.com or reply to this email with suggestions and feedback.

Today's reads

Meet the ‘Trillion Dollar Club’: How 5 companies took over the S&P 500—and likely your portfolio by Shawn Tully

Wynn Resorts’ dead deal shows there’s more pain to come in SPACs by Lucinda Shen

From a carbon market to a coal ‘phase down,’ here are the 8 key takeaways from COP26 by Katherine Dunn

How crypto-owning climate activists balance saving the planet with supporting energy-hungry Bitcoin mines by Sophie Mellor

Big brands are raising prices and banking on customer loyalty—but that strategy could backfire by Megan Leonhardt

2 big unknowns loom large over the 2022 housing market by Lance Lambert

After 90,000 restaurants closed during the pandemic, one investment fund is doubling down on the industry by Jennifer Alsever

Kevin Costner on investing in audio storytelling app HearHere by Stephanie Cain

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Market candy

“Let's face it. @elonmusk borrowed against 88.3 million shares, sold all his mansions, moved to Texas, and is asking @BernieSanders whether he should sell more stock. He doesn’t need cash. He just wants to sell $TSLA.”

That’s investor Michael Burry—he of The Big Short fame—giving his thoughts, in a now-deleted Tweet, on this past weekend’s Elon Musk-Bernie Sanders feud.