Global stock markets mostly advanced on Monday, October 26, 2026, staging a recovery from recent declines on Wall Street as international oil prices dropped more than 1% from multi-year highs driven by the war with Iran, The Hindu BusinessLine reported. In early European trading, Germany’s DAX surged 0.7% to 25,363.59, Paris’s CAC 40 added 0.9% to 7,848.62, and Britain’s FTSE 100 rose 0.5% to 10,742.88. Meanwhile, US stock futures pointed upward, with the S&P 500 future up 0.2% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average future gaining 0.4%.
Asian markets experienced a mixed session on the same day. Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 slipped 0.8% to 62,189.65 amid selling pressure on computer chipmakers and tech firms, while Seoul’s Kospi dropped 1.5% to 5,469.47. Conversely, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng picked up 0.5% to 23,211.81, Shanghai’s composite index gained 0.2% to 3,697.52, and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 advanced 0.2% to 8,809.90. In commodities trading, Brent crude fell 1.7% to $109.86 a barrel, while US benchmark crude sank 2.1% to $101.08 a barrel, retreating from Friday’s peak of $116.72 for Brent—its highest settlement since June 2022.
Big Tech Earnings and AI Financing Strains
Financial markets face a pivotal week dominated by high-stakes corporate earnings from major artificial intelligence entities, including Google parent Alphabet, Microsoft, and Amazon. Investors are scrutinizing whether massive capital expenditures in AI infrastructure will yield proportional productivity and profits. Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management noted in market commentary that the current period demands proof of sustainable returns rather than broad conviction. “Big Tech now has to show that the spending binge still deserves the market’s faith,” Innes stated, questioning whether multi-billion-dollar compute buildouts form a durable earnings engine.
Market volatility extended to individual tech and financing equities on October 26, 2026. Meta Platforms experienced sharp intraday swings after announcing plans to raise $35 billion through stock sales to fund AI investments, alongside a potential $60 billion secondary offering. Meta disclosed that Nvidia, Advanced Micro Devices, and Broadcom indicated interest in purchasing a combined $5 billion of the offering, highlighting heavy inter-industry reliance among chipmakers and AI developers. Similar volatility affected SpaceX’s xAI operations following a roughly $40 billion computing power leasing deal with an entity managed by Apollo Global Management.
Central Bank Policy and Macroeconomic Pressures
Beyond corporate results, global investors are tracking monetary policy decisions and persistent inflationary pressures. US Treasury yields edged higher following sharp drops, driven by broader anxieties over government debt burdens. With US inflation remaining stubbornly above 3%, the Federal Reserve is widely expected to hold interest rates steady at its upcoming meeting while leaning toward potential tightening measures later in the year. Additionally, the Bank of Japan prepared to announce its key interest rate decision later in the week.
American Express reported quarterly profits that beat analyst forecasts yet saw its stock slump 3.7% after announcing its first major job cuts in approximately a decade. As global supply restrictions stemming from the US war with Iran continue to impact energy and consumer costs, market participants await upcoming personal consumption expenditures (PCE) data to gauge broader inflationary trajectories.