US Pre-Market Bulletin October 26, 2026: AI Financing and Geopolitical Pressure

What Happened?

• In the previous session on U.S. markets, the Dow Jones dropped 1.24% and the S&P 500 slipped 0.52%, while the Nasdaq 100 showed resilience, holding flat with a decline of just 0.01% supported by tech stocks.
• Escalating geopolitical tensions in the Middle East following statements by Netanyahu propelled Energy Minerals up 3.24%, while Industrial Services gained 1.49% and Communications rose 1.17%; in contrast, Consumer Services fell 2.07% and Health Technology dropped 1.87%.
• Amid pressure in the bond market, the 20+ year Treasury bond fund (TLT) fell 0.49% and the gold fund (GLD) lost 0.65%, while Elon Musk's bankruptcy warning regarding AI cloud companies dragged shares of Nebius, CoreWeave, and Iren down by over 4%.
• On a single-stock basis, RHI led the gainers with a 21.74% jump and EAF surged 14.23%, whereas LKQ plunged 22.47% and RGC tumbled 21.81%; Ross Stores, boosted by a price target increase from UBS, gained 3.4% to reach $237.14.
• On the corporate front, FF completed the EAI Robotics RobotCo merger, GameSquare finalized the FanEngine asset transfer, Bank of Hawaii closed at $70.60, up 0.48% following its results, and AAR CORP raised its credit facility to $1.375 billion.

Sector Performance

• Energy Minerals +3.24% (48 stocks)
• Industrial Services +1.49% (59 stocks)
• Communications +1.17% (15 stocks)
• Electronic Technology +0.55% (147 stocks)
• Transportation +0.54% (58 stocks)
• Technology Services +0.32% (259 stocks)
• Utilities -0.02% (33 stocks)
• Producer Manufacturing -0.04% (137 stocks)
• Commercial Services -0.19% (107 stocks)
• Process Industries -0.34% (79 stocks)
• Other -0.37% (48 stocks)
• Mining -0.44% (62 stocks)
• Finance -0.51% (501 stocks)
• Distribution Services -0.61% (33 stocks)
• Consumer Durables -0.78% (65 stocks)
• Health Services -0.90% (44 stocks)
• Retail Trade -1.61% (75 stocks)
• Consumer Non-Durables -1.80% (53 stocks)
• Health Technology -1.87% (466 stocks)
• Consumer Services -2.07% (91 stocks)

What's Ahead?

• While technology and energy shares remain in focus in pre-market trading, major indexes are expected to start the day with a cautious and volatile tone driven by geopolitical concerns and AI funding moves.
• Interest from Nvidia, AMD, and Broadcom in Meta's $35 billion share offering, along with Verizon's AI infrastructure partnership exceeding $2 billion with AWS, will guide pricing across semiconductor and cloud companies.
• Under upcoming IPOs, Jio Platforms (NSE) is book-building with a size of $3.2 billion, Csquare (NASDAQ) with $1.05 billion, and Dangote Petroleum Refinery with $1.6 billion; Borsa Istanbul (BIST) continues its book-building process, while Haymaker Acquisition Corp V priced at $250 million on the NYSE.
• Robinhood's forecast of a $1.7 billion revenue potential in the prediction market is being watched among financial stocks, while market participants will monitor the potential implications on AI valuations of the $80.7 billion loss figure disclosed by Anthropic in its SEC filing.

Market Agenda

• Anthropic submitted its highly anticipated, historic IPO prospectus to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to list on the Nasdaq stock exchange under the ticker ANT.
• Meta Platforms plans to execute a massive share offering of $35 billion to $95 billion to fund its AI expansion.
• Verizon raised its full-year financial outlook while signing an AI infrastructure deal valued at over $2 billion with Amazon Web Services.
• Iran is hosting diplomatic talks with regional powers in an effort to prevent tensions from escalating further in the Middle East.
• As U.S. mortgage rates are reported to remain persistently above 7%, Wall Street has turned to hedging against vulnerabilities in AI investments.

Today's Outlook

On a day marked by the convergence of large-scale AI funding initiatives and Middle East geopolitical risks, markets are expected to open on a cautious note with company-specific divergences taking center stage.