S&P 500 Falls as Chip Rout Offsets US-Iran Hopes: Markets Wrap
(Bloomberg) — A selloff in chipmakers weighed on stocks, offsetting a slump in oil prices driven by hopes for diplomatic efforts to end the war in Iran.
West Texas Intermediate settled near $96.50. While most S&P 500 firms rose, the index lost steam. A gauge of chip giants extended a three-day rout to 12%. Anthropic PBC disclosed a twelve-fold increase in quarterly revenue while revealing it intends to spend more than $895 billion in the years ahead. Apple Inc. fell before its results. Long-term Treasuries outperformed.
Traders monitored the latest geopolitical developments a day before Americans cast ballots in the midterm elections.
Iran President Masoud Pezeshkian said his government has been granted more authority by the country’s supreme leader to pursue peace talks, as President Donald Trump hinted at progress in negotiations.
“They want to make a deal, and that could happen,” he told reporters in Washington. He added that oil prices had fallen because “it looks like that’s coming together very nicely” and “people found out about it.”
Moments later, Trump mouthed “No,” when a reporter shouted a question about whether he would resume military strikes on Iran after Tuesday’s midterm elections.
Lower oil prices are providing some relief to investors amid hopes for renewed diplomacy with Iran, but geopolitical uncertainty and the midterm elections could keep volatility elevated, according to Matt Maley at Miller Tabak.
“The market has more potential ‘volatility triggers’ to face — including this week’s midterms and jobs data — but its ability to bend but not break under pressure has been a positive sign,” said Chris Larkin at E*Trade from Morgan Stanley.
Traders also parsed the latest economic data, with US manufacturing activity picking up in October, supported by the strongest production increase in nearly five years.
Forecasters expect Friday’s payrolls report to show monthly job growth more than doubled in October, to 65,000, while the unemployment rate remained steady at 4.2%.
Other labor-market data this week could reinforce the stability theme. A monthly report on job openings due on Tuesday is expected to show listings ticked higher in September, and economists will also scrutinize numbers on layoffs and quitting. Weekly jobless claims figures out Thursday, meanwhile, are seen remaining near the lowest levels in decades.
Corporate Highlights:
Oracle Corp. started selling $20 billion of debt and equity on Monday, pushing ahead with plans to raise money for AI investments despite increasing signs that money managers are jittery about tech companies’ spending. Meta Platforms Inc. is eyeing at least $20 billion from a potential cross-border investment-grade bond offering as the tech giant gauges investor interest in its debt amid growing skepticism about the pace of spending on AI. Alphabet Inc. raised €6 billion ($6.7 billion) in its second euro bond sale this year, offering considerably higher yields than in its transaction in May after concerns over the pace of AI spending drove a credit-market selloff. Marvell Technology Inc. agreed to buy Lumentum Holdings Inc. at an enterprise value of $115 billion, clinching one of the largest technology deals in history in a push to capitalize on runaway data center spending. What Bloomberg strategists say…
“The oil selloff reinforces the distinction traders now need to make: Physical tightness remains real, but the largest swings in crude are increasingly being driven by changes in the geopolitical premium.”
—Michael Ball, Macro Strategist, Markets Live. For the full analysis, click here.
Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
The S&P 500 fell 0.4% as of 3:38 p.m. New York time The Nasdaq 100 fell 1.3% The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.6% The MSCI World Index fell 0.3% Currencies
The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.2% The euro rose 0.3% to $1.1195 The British pound rose 0.2% to $1.3412 The Japanese yen fell 0.2% to 157.87 per dollar Cryptocurrencies
Bitcoin fell 1.3% to $76,757.62 Ether fell 0.8% to $2,243.99 Bonds
The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined three basis points to 4.90% Germany’s 10-year yield declined three basis points to 3.29% Britain’s 10-year yield declined nine basis points to 5.19% Commodities
West Texas Intermediate crude fell 7.7% to $96.06 a barrel Spot gold rose 1.7% to $3,941.09 an ounce ©2026 Bloomberg L.P.
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