Markets 24-Hour Briefing
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Last updated: November 3, 2026, 10:44 PM ET
Midterm Elections & Political Risk
Democrats were building an early lead as early vote counts bloomberg.com came in, with traders reacting across rates and equities. Jon Ossoff's nytimes.com campaign message on corruption was seen as a template for the party heading into 2028. Opinion writers argued that President Trump has left Republicans nytimes.com in a highly perilous position as the results came in. U.S. stock futures bloomberg.com fell as Democrats gained early momentum, while investors also weighed Iran war nerves wsj.com that kept markets mixed. Election-night coverage was dominated by the race for the Senate nytimes.com, and Senator Chris Murphy was hospitalized after a stroke nytimes.com on Election Day.
Energy & Geopolitics
Oil prices ft.com extended their decline to $103 on Tuesday after an unconfirmed report of diplomatic progress. Iran's shift to guerrilla tactics wsj.com in the Strait of Hormuz has kept shipping risk elevated. The International Energy Agency wsj.com warned that the Iran war threatens a record annual drop in global LNG supply. Saudi Aramco nytimes.com posted a 9 percent rise in third-quarter profit despite attacks on its pipelines, while Saudi Arabia's deficit bloomberg.com more than doubled as the war strained finances. Canadian heavy crude bloomberg.com traded at its widest discount to US futures since 2018. Shell agreed to sell bloomberg.com its Australian LNG stake to XRG for $1.45 billion.
Precious Metals & Currencies
Gold edged higher wsj.com as oil prices cooled, though stronger-than-expected U.S. data limited gains, and it steadied bloomberg.com as traders tracked Middle East diplomacy. Central banks accelerated wsj.com gold purchases in the third quarter at the fastest pace since late 2024. The dollar rose bloomberg.com the most in a month on higher U.S. yields and strong data. Asian currencies wsj.com were mixed against the dollar, and China stepped in bloomberg.com to boost stocks and cool the yuan.
Rates & Fixed Income
Treasuries rallied bloomberg.com ahead of the quarterly refunding, while Treasuries fell bloomberg.com after strong job openings data. JPMorgan's Bob Michele bloomberg.com urged Treasury to scrap the 20-year bond. Traders turned less bearish bloomberg.com on Treasuries before refunding and jobs data. Australia raised rates ft.com to 4.85%, the highest since 2008, while the Bank of England's path bloomberg.com divided traders and economists ahead of an expected hike.
Technology & AI
AMD beat expectations wsj.com as it pivoted to a data-center-first strategy, and its shares soared. Super Micro Computer wsj.com posted revenue that surged on AI infrastructure demand. Apple warned ft.com that unprecedented memory chip costs will hit margins, and its shares slipped. Apple has become an AI safe haven wsj.com, though the safety is not cheap. Nvidia ordered ft.com data centre clients to reduce China exposure. Google will turn off search nytimes.com for schools that reject its AI tools. Bitcoin miners wsj.com that pivoted to AI found the business just as turbulent as crypto. The AI stock selloff bloomberg.com is hitting hyperscalers at a bad moment, and marshall Wace and Millennium ft.com were among hedge funds hit by October's AI rout. Major hedge funds bloomberg.com mostly lost money in October.
Corporate Earnings & Deals
Booking Holdings bloomberg.com forecast a weaker fourth quarter as prices and unrest hurt travel. Block Inc. wsj.com reported profit growth on Square payment volume. 3M agreed wsj.com to a $7.4 billion settlement over forever-chemical injuries. Lockheed Martin wsj.com agreed to pay $29.5 million to settle a federal probe over diversity efforts. Pfizer raised ft.com its profit outlook as new drugs offset falling Covid sales. Unilever plans ft.com €1bn in cost cuts after its food spin-off. CVS Health moved ft.com to dismantle its $117bn healthcare empire. Apollo lent a record ft.com $114 billion as it piled into AI financing, and Apollo Global swung to a loss wsj.com on investment-related losses. Morgan Stanley offered bloomberg.com $2.3 billion in debt for the Dell family deal. Intesa raised wsj.com its profit guidance as the Monte dei Paschi bid nears. Permira sold wsj.com Octus to the London Stock Exchange for $3.54 billion. Chinese retailer JD.com ft.com was cleared by Brussels to buy Ceconomy. Foodtastic made wsj.com a hostile bid for MTY Food after being rejected, and Schaeffler will cut wsj.com 3,460 more jobs in Europe.
Regulation & Markets Structure
The CFTC approved bloomberg.com trading on US stock perpetual contracts. China halted ft.com new listings to bolster struggling stock markets after the CSI 300 posted its worst month in over a decade. Hong Kong's IPO boom bloomberg.com is slowing, with the most abandoned listings since 2008. Argentina's US IPO revival bloomberg.com stalled as the market rout chilled debuts. Paraguay seized ft.com the digital bank Ueno, which has ties to President Peña.
Coming Up
The Supreme Court will hear nytimes.com the Catholic schools' challenge to Colorado aid rules. Coal India plans bloomberg.com a $1 billion MCL IPO as soon as this month.
Private Equity
Last updated: November 3, 2026, 10:44 PM ET
Venture Capital & Cybersecurity
Ted Schlein's Ballistic Ventures techcrunch.com is seeking $490 million across new funds, with the cybersecurity-focused firm targeting $360 million for its flagship vehicle amid strong demand for AI-driven security. Global venture funding reached $59 billion in October news.crunchbase.com, a 45% jump from a year earlier, driven by China's largest startup deal on record.
Early-stage investors continue to raise debut funds techcrunch.com targeting Europe, as former Local Globe partner Yvonne Bajela closed a $17 million debut fund for Evertrue Capital focused on AI and fintech. Her fund close sifted.eu was reported separately by Sifted.
Buyouts & Infrastructure Deals
Hellman & Friedman is extending its ownership peinsights.substack.com of Team System, with KKR and Francisco Partners joining the Italian software group's shareholder base. I Squared Capital doubled its target as its second infrastructure credit strategy peinsights.substack.com hit $3 billion. In Toronto, CPP Investments and its partners completed a $422 million peinsights.substack.com logistics portfolio transaction with Dream Unlimited and Dream Industrial REIT.
Asset Managers & Fee Income
Apollo reported record fee earnings peinsights.substack.com and record deal origination in the third quarter, even as Athene's mark-to-market adjustments pushed the group to an $1.1 billion loss.
Governance & Sector Developments
FIFA will allow members peinsights.substack.com of its ruling Council to inspect confidential documents tied to the scrapped World Cup private equity plan. Among startups, researchers reported that Lovable apps sifted.eu expose sensitive user data, while a stealth frontier AI lab led by Professor James Whittington and Dr Ruairidh Battleday unveiled a breakthrough sifted.eu claiming a 724x speed boost in attention processing. Europe's photonics sector is also drawing investor attention, with 74 startups sifted.eu using light to power AI data centers.
Coming Up
Founders and VCs gather in Boston for the TechCrunch Founder Summit techcrunch.com on Nov. 4, and early-bird pass pricing techcrunch.com rises after tomorrow.
Sector Investment
Last updated: November 3, 2026, 3:40 PM ET
Infrastructure Investment
Gulf infrastructure demand is rising steadily infrastructureinvestor.com, though new cost pressures are forcing investors to reassess how much risk premium they should demand across the region.
Real Estate Investment
The real estate sector is under pressure perenews.com to modernise as the total portfolio approach gains traction, with industry leaders calling for more coordinated action.