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Today's Top Business/Market Headlines (November 2, 2026)

Markets Steadying After Tech-Led Selloff
A selloff in stocks eased in early Monday trade as Asian equities fell less than their Wall Street peers and US equity futures turned higher. This followed the Nasdaq 100 Index tumbling 3.5% on Friday in its worst day since June, while the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index slumped 7.2%. Dow futures gained 0.3%, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 futures each advanced approximately 0.4%, as market participants looked ahead to earnings reports from major companies including Apple, Palantir, AMD, Pfizer, and McDonald's.

The AI Trade Under Scrutiny
Last week's rout was driven by: US stock indices closing sharply lower on Friday amid a major selloff in technology shares — the S&P 500 fell 1.8%, the Nasdaq tumbled 3.5%, and the Dow lost 572 points following disappointing tech earnings, with Intel plunging 28.6% after weaker-than-expected guidance and Amazon falling 1.4% after Q3 results missed expectations. Signs of a slowdown in AI-related business growth sharpened scrutiny of AI demand durability — Nvidia fell 4.2%, AMD slumped 11%, Broadcom shed 5.5%, Micron lost 5.3%, and Alphabet extended losses after a prior 12.6% slump.

Big Week Ahead: Earnings, Jobs Data, Midterms
The U.S. midterm elections are finally here, but investors suspect it will matter little to a market preoccupied with AI trade rumblings — though early polling suggests Democrats have a shot at winning majorities in Congress, which could reshape defense spending, pharma pricing pressure, and data center regulation. The U.S. is expected to have added 55,000 jobs in October, with unemployment holding steady at 4.2%, an improvement from the prior month's weak 29,000 nonfarm payrolls.

Binance Hack Fallout Continues
Binance posted a net outflow of $3.6 billion in cryptoassets after restoring customer withdrawals on Sunday, following the largest cyber theft in history. Hackers took about $6.3 billion from Binance — more than four times the old Bybit hack record — sending Bitcoin down to around $76,000 while Coinbase, Strategy, and Robinhood fell further, though Binance set aside $6.3 billion to cover users and about $3 billion of the stolen crypto is now frozen.

Energy & Oil
ExxonMobil gained 2.2% and Chevron advanced 1.7% as both topped Q3 forecasts. WTI crude rose 2.1% to $104.1/barrel.

Big Tech Capex Concerns
Selling pressure resumed amid signs that capex spending could be abating after both Alphabet and Microsoft posted lower-than-expected capex forecasts. The tech-heavy Nasdaq and S&P 500 logged a losing October amid AI spending concerns, with the Nasdaq suffering its worst losses since March 2025, while the Dow rose almost 2% as investors rotated into defensive areas like healthcare.

This Week's Earnings Marathon
Apple and Palantir report on Monday, November 2, after the market closes, AMD on Tuesday evening and Uber on Wednesday morning. 755 companies worth at least $2 billion are on Nasdaq's calendar for November 2-6.