Morning Briefing, October 29, 2026

S&P 500 futures point to a lower open, with the SPY down about 0.4%, as yesterday's AI-spending verdict carries into today: Alphabet's earnings miss and steep share-class declines, together with a sharp sell-off in security software names, are overwhelming an otherwise heavy slate of beat-and-raise earnings.

The Strait of Hormuz crisis has worsened overnight. Iran's Revolutionary Guards Navy says three tankers caught fire after hitting mines in the past 24 hours, and a vessel was spotted on fire near Khasab. Saudi Arabia issued a danger alert in Najran. Against that, reports point to ongoing US talks on a temporary peace deal. North Korea fired roughly ten projectiles overnight, with one appearing to land outside Japan's exclusive economic zone, and Russia says it downed most of 613 drones aimed at Moscow while a drone strike on Dnipro's rail station killed at least 13. Gold has fallen below $4,050 and silver is down roughly 3% to $52.40 an ounce on rising rate-hike expectations and dollar demand. European natural gas remains near €100 per megawatt-hour after touching that level for the first time since 2022, with EU storage at a record low for the date. Technology is the clear laggard pre-market, with the sector ETF down roughly 1%, dragged by Alphabet's two share classes, ServiceNow, Fortinet and Marvell Technology, while Health Care, Consumer Staples and Financials are all higher. Industrials and Materials show wide internal dispersion, with Caterpillar down sharply against gains in defense and aerospace names.

Company News

Alphabet missed on both revenue ($128.09 bln vs $132.02 bln expected) and EPS ($2.12), despite CEO Sundar Pichai citing the fastest query growth in five years; shares are down more than 10% in the Class A line.
DoorDash has agreed to acquire Instacart for $65 per share in cash and stock, an equity value of about $17 billion, with the deal expected to close in late 2027 or the first half of 2028.
ServiceNow raised full-year subscription revenue and free cash flow targets but still fell nearly 18% after missing EPS estimates.
Fortinet beat on EPS and raised guidance but is down more than 25% after the report.
Eli Lilly raised full-year revenue guidance to $91-92 billion on strong Mounjaro and Zepbound demand, beating on both revenue and EPS.
Microsoft beat estimates, with Cloud growth accelerating to 30%, and is reportedly seeking to raise at least $25 billion in a US bond sale, its first since 2017, as calendar-year capital spending is guided to about $170 billion.
Caterpillar reported a narrow EPS beat with a record backlog, while Oshkosh cut its full-year EPS outlook on fire-truck production delays, sending the stock down more than 10%.
Clorox named Fabian Garcia, currently of Unilever, as CEO effective January 5, succeeding Linda Rendle.
Oracle shares jumped as much as 14% Tuesday after the company projected $30 billion in free cash flow for fiscal 2029 and capped additional fundraising at $20 billion through 2030.

Overseas Data

Japan's October consumer confidence index came in at 35.0, below both the prior reading and expectations. The Bank of Japan's policy decision is awaited, with the 10-year JGB yield ticking up to 2.83%. South Korea's KOSPI slumped 2.4% Wednesday as Samsung Electronics fell more than 6% even after guiding to a sharp rise in 2026 capital spending to 84.4 trillion won from 52.7 trillion won.

Sweden's October manufacturing confidence rose to 111.5 from 106.3, while third-quarter GDP matched the prior year-over-year reading but missed expectations. The UK 10-year yield fell to a five-week low of 5.29%, and the EU's energy chief said the bloc is better positioned than in 2022 given gas consumption 18% below that year's level. Britain's FTSE 100 and France's CAC 40 are modestly higher, while Spain's IBEX is down more than 1%.