Markets 24-Hour Briefing

Public Markets

Last updated: October 30, 2026, 4:40 AM ET

Global Equities & Tech Selloff

Technology stocks led a global retreat as disappointing earnings revived fears about AI spending. Alphabet shares tumbled ft.com in a $500bn rout after the Google owner admitted its "AI mode" had hurt traditional search. Amazon stock fell wsj.com on a Wall Street miss despite its strongest cloud growth in years, while Intel shares dropped 20% ft.com after a weak sales outlook. Taiwan stocks bloomberg.com neared a technical correction, and Japanese shares ft.com in the tech-heavy Nikkei fell as US earnings stoked concern. Nasdaq 100 futures ft.com slid roughly 1.4% after Alphabet and Microsoft reported weaker-than-hoped results.

Bonds & Central Banks

Government debt rallied as investors sought havens. Treasuries extended gains bloomberg.com with global peers, and yields fell wsj.com after both the Fed and the ECB held rates. Investors have also returned to long-dated government debt bloomberg.com, drawn by yields too high to ignore. In Japan, the yen strengthened bloomberg.com after the Bank of Japan kept rates steady, even as Nikkei losses deepened wsj.com. Meanwhile, Chinese high-yield dollar bonds bloomberg.com headed for their worst week in a year on liquidity strain at Huafa.

Commodities

Gold fell toward $4,000 bloomberg.com on hot inflation and rate-hike bets, on track for a second monthly loss. Oil rose bloomberg.com on signs the US may resume strikes on Iran, while ANZ lifted its oil forecast bloomberg.com as the market tightens. Copper slipped bloomberg.com on the tech selloff, and iron ore bloomberg.com headed for its lowest month-end close since October 2022. Rio Tinto suspended bloomberg.com underground operations at its Oyu Tolgoi copper mine after a rockfall.

Crypto & Prediction Markets

Binance suspended transactions wsj.com after hackers made off with about $6.3bn, one of the largest cyber heists on record, and cryptocurrencies slid wsj.com as a result. Polymarket wsj.com also suffered a breach that drained millions from users. The SEC bloomberg.com has turned its attention to manipulation and insider risk in prediction markets, and Kalshi raised $1bn nytimes.com at a $40bn valuation.

Deals & Corporate Moves

Private equity firm PAG ft.com offered about $513mn for a stake in Evergrande's property-management arm, a rare win for creditors. Thrive agreed to buy ADT wsj.com for $7.6 billion, and DoorDash will buy Instacart ft.com in a $17bn deal. Evonik is set to reject ft.com BASF's sweetened €11bn bid, and Monte dei Paschi shareholders rejected ft.com the CEO's plan to fend off Intesa's €35bn takeover. Dine Brands adopted a poison pill bloomberg.com against a hostile bid. Weil Gotshal wsj.com is winding down after five turbulent days.

Earnings Highlights

Eli Lilly profits surged ft.com on weight-loss drug demand, and Shell wsj.com will launch a $5 billion buyback after its third-quarter earnings doubled. Merck raised wsj.com its full-year forecasts on Keytruda and Winrevair growth. Starbucks wsj.com posted a 7.2% rise in same-store sales, and Sandisk's profit soared wsj.com as AI demand lifted prices. Air Canada cut bloomberg.com its profit outlook again on jet fuel costs. Volkswagen posted ft.com losses that quadrupled in the third quarter as China demand slumped.

Coming Up

The Fed's next moves remain in focus nytimes.com, with officials expected to restart rate increases in December. Christine Lagarde nytimes.com will step down as ECB president in February.

Private Equity

Last updated: October 30, 2026, 4:40 AM ET

Venture Funding & Mega-Deals

Thrive Holdings, the OpenAI-backed vehicle, is buying ADT techcrunch.com in a $15.3 billion transaction. Apollo is writing the cheque for the all-cash take-private peinsights.substack.com of the US home-security provider. Elsewhere, Fractile has raised £540m sifted.eu in a Series C round, according to filings.

Early-Stage Funding

Creandum and USV co-led a $40m seed sifted.eu into Machenta, a robotics lab that has yet to ship a product. Dream, founded by former Palantir executives, launched with $17m techcrunch.com from a16z to build AI world models for construction. Crunchbase data shows Series B funding is up, though fewer deals news.crunchbase.com are closing, with investors deploying around $48 billion so far this year. Meanwhile, AI megarounds are masking a shrinking Series A market news.crunchbase.com, leaving seed-stage founders under pressure.

Buyouts & Portfolio Sales

Carlyle and the EBRD have agreed to sell Black Sea Oil & Gas peinsights.substack.com to former portfolio company Mazarine. I Squared Capital has agreed to buy peinsights.substack.com Kansas City-based aerostructures maker Orizon. Blackstone Strategic Partners has acquired part peinsights.substack.com of a $1.3bn co-investment portfolio of private assets at a discount.

Europe & Policy

Investor sentiment in France is under strain, with questions over whether the country's startup ecosystem sifted.eu is losing faith in Emmanuel Macron. Former UK government adviser Alex Depledge criticised the Budget sifted.eu and startup lobbying, saying there is no magic money tree for founders. Separately, Sifted asks whether Europe's fastest-growing startups are hiring the right talent sifted.eu.

AI & Emerging Tech

Startups building controls for AI agents sifted.eu are emerging as gatekeepers over what autonomous systems are permitted to do.

Coming Up

The TechCrunch Founder Summit techcrunch.com takes place on November 4, featuring experienced founders and investors on its stages.

Sector Investment

Last updated: October 29, 2026, 4:10 PM ET

Real Estate Investment

Brookfield has hired the former KKR team perenews.com behind KKR-backed Strategic Lease Partners to lead its net-lease expansion. Separately, the largest private real estate funds have lost market share perenews.com this quarter, with the top ten funds' share of fundraising declining in Q3.

Infrastructure Investment

Five Point Infrastructure has raised its fund target infrastructureinvestor.com to $4bn after already exceeding its original $2.5bn goal within five months. In Germany, the sale of SEFE's energy assets is drawing investor interest infrastructureinvestor.com as valuation concerns and a thin pipeline weigh on the broader market.

Industry Events

Submissions for the 2026 awards infrastructureinvestor.com are now open, and firms have a deadline to put forward their achievements from the year.

Coming Up

Firms have until the submission deadline to enter the 2026 awards infrastructureinvestor.com.