Market Review: October 26, 2026

Closing Recap

Monday, October 26, 2026

U.S. stocks opened higher and held strong all day, led by a rally in technology (XLK), Consumer Discretionary (XLY) and Industrials (XLI) as the AI trade bounced back after tumbling the prior few weeks on debt concerns and high rates impacts. Communications (XLC) and defensive sectors like Staples (XLP) and Healthcare (XLV) pulled back from recent 52-week highs ahead of a week filled with potential market catalysts. The FOMC rate decision is Wednesday the 28th (2 day meeting starts Tuesday) – widely expected to hold rates steady. Shares of AMZN, BA, KO, Visa, GOOGL, MSFT, LLY, SBUX, ABBV, CVX, XOM earnings among many others on tap this week. Also GDP and core PCE inflation data late in the week and both the European Central bank and BOJ holding Central bank policy meetings. In tech news, Anthropic revealed its IPO plans today while ORCL holding its Ai event midweek.

Brazilian stocks plunge (MELI, EWZ, NU, PAGS, PBR, XP, VALE, STNE, ITUB, BBD) after President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva secured a fourth term in Sunday’s presidential runoff, defeating right-wing challenger Flávio Bolsonaro and overturning market expectations of a shift toward more conservative economic policies. Shares of oil major names like PBR tumbled, while banking stocks including ITUB and BBD came under heavy selling pressure. The selloff followed a rally in Brazilian assets after Bolsonaro unexpectedly led the first round of voting earlier this month.

Neocloud/data center stocks such as NBIS, CRWV, HUT, IREN, CIFR, WULF and others were volatile after Elon Musk warned on X that debt markets have shut off funding for AI data center operators lacking independent revenue, predicting ‘guppy-level death and consolidation’ among more than 200 neoclouds. “As of the past few weeks, debt markets have almost entirely shut off access to money for any company that doesn’t have substantial revenue independent of AI data centers,” Musk said in an X post on Sunday. Musk went on to say, “That means the 200+ neoclouds are going to see guppy-level death and consolidation. Some will make it through, but not many.” The group saw early weakness but rebounded as software stocks sold off, reversing the trade seen the last few weeks.

• December gold prices rise +$30.50, or +0.76%, to settle at $4,038.40 an ounce while December silver prices rose $0.39 or 0.73% to settle at $54.34 an ounce. Prices likely to be choppy the next few days ahead of the FOMC rate decision on Wednesday where no rate change is expected, but markets await to see if the commentary is more hawkish then dovish for outlook on futures rate changes.

• Food sector: the sector was weaker as investors rotated out of defensive sectors and into tech today with shares of CAG, GIS, HSY, MDLZ, etc. High Liner Foods (HLNFF) said it will be acquired by Umios for C$27.00 per share in cash, valuing the Canadian frozen seafood company at around C$804M on a fully diluted equity basis. The consideration represents a premium of approximately 79% to the closing price of the shares on October 23, 2026.

• Casinos & Gaming sector: Stifel previewed the sector saying heading into earnings, they are now forecasting Q3 Adj. EBITDA misses for FLUT, DKNG, CDRO, & SRAD, and mostly inline for RSI, GENI. While ‘core’ OSB fundamentals appear to be improving early-NFL, unfavorable sport outcomes dragged on hold again, legal uncertainty & ongoing predictions investment is weighing on sentiment for DKNG, and iCasino TAM deceleration has continued into September contrasting narrative coming out of G2E.
• Lodging & Leisure sector: Evercore previewed Lodging REITs, saying they are expected to report strong Q3 results, sustaining RevPAR growth beyond the summer months, particularly influenced by weekday and Urban market demand. The positive momentum has led to notable outperformance across the sector, contributing to year-to-date price returns. Notably, this growth appears to be driven more by flows seeking stability in uncertain market conditions rather than solid fundamentals, prompting a downgrade of RHP, SHO to In-line from Outperform.
• CART shares popped late day, and DASH shares fell after the WSJ reported DoorDash is in advanced talks to acquire food-delivery rival Instacart, according to people familiar with the matter. The deal could be completed as soon as this week, assuming the talks don’t fall apart, the people said. The Information earlier reported that Instacart had attracted takeover interest from DoorDash and Uber.

• Coal, Solar, Utility sector: BTU upgraded from Neutral to Buy at B Riley, PT from $29 to $30, as believes valuation is compelling, attractive thermal Dynamics are not fully priced in at current levels, and any progress at Centurion could drive upside, particularly at these PLV prices.

• FinTech sector: XYZ was downgraded to Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley and cut tgt to $80 from $90 citing rising credit risks, competition and reinvestment needs; says longer-duration Cash App Borrow loans could slow near-term originations against tougher comps and lift credit losses as loans stay outstanding longer.
• Financial Services: FICO shares declined following Friday night headlines that FICO Holds Mortgage Score Pricing at $10 for Lenders Enrolled in Preferred Program. Wells Fargo downgraded to Equal Weight citing the news that FICO will hold its price at $10 for lenders enrolled in its Preferred Program in exchange for a commitment to pull FICO 100% of the time for the downgrade. EFX was downgraded to Sector Perform at RBC Capital as the recent stock rally off the lows has left risk/reward more balanced.

• AVBP shares fell after presented late-breaking Phase 1a/b data at ESMO for its CDH17-targeting ADC ARR-217/MRG007 developed with Lepu Biopharma, showing a 44.8% ORR at the 6mg/kg dose across 123 patients; Citi and OPCO called the results encouraging but flagged the short 4.2-month follow-up and need for visibility on durability of responses.
• BAYRY and partner Orion shares rise after positive trial results on jointly developed prostate cancer drug Nubeqa. Data presented at ESMO 2026 congress on Saturday showed Nubeqa reduced the risk of metastasis or death by 58% in the late-stage DASL-HiCaP trial, while four-year metastasis-free survival reached 95% versus 88% with placebo.
• CORT said its ovarian cancer drug Lifyorli, combined with chemotherapy drug nab-paclitaxel and bevacizumab, showed positive results in patients with platinum-resistant ovarian cancer; adds that regimen delivered median progression-free survival of 7.2 months, an objective response rate of 59% in 95-patient study.
• ENTA announces first patient dosed in the resolve phase 2B/3 study of zelicapavir, a potential first-in-disease treatment for respiratory syncytial virus
• REGN said it extended its agreement with a US health authority to provide additional supply of its Ebola treatment, amid a growing outbreak in Africa. The new agreement with the US Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, expanding a 2020 contract, will see Regeneron supply doses of its drug Inmazeb through 2031 for about $270 million
• SGRY shares surge after HealthSpan Partners, a supporting organization of not-for-profit healthcare system Bon Secours Mercy Health, will take the company private for $5.7B, valuing shares at $23.50 per share, a 49% premium (confirmed a Financial Times report this weekend).
• XNCR shares rise after presenting Phase 1 Dose Selection Data for XmAb819. 400 mcg/kg chosen as proposed IV RP3D based on 45.5% cORR, 55% uORR and 82% 6-month PFS Kaplan-Meier estimate. Xencor plans to discuss a potential accelerated approval pathway with the FDA in key ccRCC patient subgroups in 1H2027. Xencor plans global randomized study of monotherapy XmAb819 compared to tivozanib in a post PD-(L)1 and VEGFR TKI ccRCC patient population.

• Aerospace sector: SPCX has secured $40B in debt financing to purchase graphics processing units (GPUs) scheduled for delivery in the first and second quarters of 2027. The debt is largely callable, allowing repayment before maturity under specified conditions. Also, EasyJet Plc has agreed on a deal with SPCX’s Starlink for inflight Wi-Fi across its all-Airbus fleet, showing how demand for fast Internet service in the sky is infiltrating even the budget-carrier industry.
• Transport sector: shares of airlines were mostly higher early as oil prices dipped from 5-month highs; JBLU shares fell after late Friday, the WSJ reported a Senior creditors group for Jetblue Airways is working with restructuring adviser PJT Partners citing people familiar with the matter.
• Metals & Mining sector: shares of steel producers STLD, CLF, NUE slipped after Reuters reported late day that the U.S. and Canada are working on a deal to ease US tariffs on Canadian steel and autos, two US and four Canadian sources said. The talks focus on tariffs imposed under Section 232 of US trade law, including up to 50% tariff on Canadian steel and a 25% tariff on autos, with negotiators discussing potential relief from those duties. NUE reports earnings after the close.

• Neocloud/data center stocks such as NBIS, CRWV, HUT, IREN, CIFR, WULF and others were weak overnight after Elon Musk warned on X that debt markets have shut off funding for AI data center operators lacking independent revenue, predicting ‘guppy-level death and consolidation’ among more than 200 neoclouds. "As of the past few weeks, debt markets have almost entirely shut off access to money for any company that doesn’t have substantial revenue independent of AI data centers," Musk said in an X post on Sunday. Musk went on to say, "That means the 200+ neoclouds are going to see guppy-level death and consolidation. Some will make it through, but not many." He later said SpaceX (SPCX) won’t buy any neoclouds, calling it "pointless."
• META announced a massive equity raise plan, including ~$22.5B Class A shares, ~$12.5B of preferred stock, and a ~$60B ATM sale of the new Class C shares. In total, the company plans to raise ~$95B worth of equity, with the money aimed at expanding its AI infrastructure footprint. Meta claims that AMD, AVGO and NVDA could each purchase $5B of Class A shares.

• VZ also announces another big deal, this time with AMZN Amazon Web Services, to support the infrastructure needed for agentic and generative AI workloads. The agreement, worth more than $2 billion, follows a similar deal valued at more than $1 billion with Google earlier this year to supply dark fiber connecting the company’s data centers.
• Hardware sector: shares of AAPL pulled back slightly off all-time highs amid reports the Apple’s iPhone Duo is drawing complaints from customers who say the foldable display cracked after just hours or days of use, Bloomberg reported. Customers reported hearing a crunching sound when unfolding the phone, followed by a large crack forming along the center crease.

• NVDA and MU make up 34% of America’s earnings boom, the WSJ reported while noting only 10 companies, including AVGO and META, account for two-thirds of the profit growth, demonstrating how the U.S. stock market has begun depending on a handful of companies tied to AI.
• SKHY plans to return about 80% of the gains from selling down its stake in Japan’s Kioxia Holdings Corp. to shareholders through a special dividend of about 16 trillion won ($12 billion), the DongA Ilbo newspaper reported.