North American Morning Briefing: Amazon, Intel Earnings Add Fuel to Tech Selloff

AI-related stocks including Nvidia, Oracle and CoreWeave were in the red

before Friday's opening bell with yesterday's tech selloff intensifying.

Google's worst day on record Thursday weighed on indexes, amplifying fears that the costs of the global AI build-out might be outrunning returns with results from Amazon and Intel compounding worries.

Today, the concerns come with a side order of crypto angst in the wake of a massive cyberattack on Binance.

Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies fell after hackers made off with an estimated $6.3 billion from an attack on the crypto exchange.

"User funds are safe. Binance will cover all hacking losses," Binance co-founder Yi He said on X.

Oil was climbing after a tanker transiting Hormuz came under attack, and Ukraine struck an oil refinery in Russia, ending a pause that the Trump administration had pushed for.

Ahead of Tuesday's midterms, Robeco said technology and healthcare remained the key sectors to watch with regard to the elections.

The administration has supported investment in AI-which continued to provide a powerful structural tailwind-and healthcare is another area where the election outcome could influence sentiment, given its role as a political battleground.

Stocks to Watch

Amazon was down sharply premarket after its earnings showed booming growth at the company's cloud-computing division-but left investors wanting more. Intel fell nearly 25% premarket after the memory-chip crunch and other hiccups weighed on PC sales. Roblox reported declining user and engagement metrics. The stock fell 16% after hours Thursday.

Stryker cut its outlook. Shares shed 12% after hours Thursday.

Watch For:

Employment Cost Index for 3Q; Canada GDP for August; Earnings from Canadian National Railway; Chevron; ExxonMobil, Kenvue, Regeneron, AbbVie, General Dynamics, Colgate-Palmolive

Today's Top Headlines/Must Reads:

-Trump Administration, States Harden Battle Lines Ahead of Election Day -The Market Isn't Buying Skydance's Balance-Sheet Math -Chinese Executive Close to Nvidia CEO Suspected of Giving China Information

MARKET WRAPS Forex:

The dollar fell along with Treasury yields as results from Alphabet raised fresh concerns about the payoff from investments in A infrastructure.

The euro fell to a 19-month low against sterling and traded near a four-month low versus the Swiss franc on worries about France's debt and the ECB's cautious stance about raising interest rates, while the BOE is widely expected to raise rates in November.

Bonds:

Treasury yields fell. Yields are expected to remain rangebound in the near term, with the 10-year yield trading mostly near 5% in the coming weeks, SEB said.

"Concerns over AI-related stocks and rising energy prices have driven a rotation into bonds, lowering long-end yields and flattening the curve." The potential softening of expectations for Fed rate hikes over the next year was also supporting bonds.

Energy:

Oil rose, driven by persistent threats to shipping in the Hormuz Strait and fears that the U.S. could resume military strikes against Iran.

"Oil prices will continue to see an upside skew until there is clarity on the geopolitical conditions in the Middle East, with the period following next week's U.S. midterms in focus for a potential deterioration in regional security," MUFG said.

Ukraine struck an oil refinery in Russia early Friday, ending a two-week pause in refinery attacks that came amid heavy pressure from Trump to halt such operations.

Metals:

Gold slid below $4,000 as higher oil prices and sticky inflation fueled expectations that the Fed would raise interest rates again later this year and a tech-stock selloff raised the risk of investors offloading the metal to cover losses.

"Heading into the weekend, traders will watch whether the U.S. technology sector selloff extends into today's session, potentially triggering broader deleveraging and liquidity-driven selling across markets, including precious metals," Saxo said.

Copper

Jefferies said that we would start to see further premiums paid for lower-risk mining methods after a pause in operations at Rio Tinto's Oyu Tolgoi copper mine.

While Jefferies said it was unlikely to have a long-term impact on production there, the event raised questions about the long-term sustainable rate of cave propagation.

Lithium

Lithium carbonate was down more than 20% since early September and spodumene concentrate was down by nearly 40%. Benchmarked said that outside of China there was a feeling that this was a short-term, sentiment-led dip, unsupported by fundamentals.

TODAY'S TOP HEADLINES

BP Slashes Net Debt as Earnings Soar

BP's third-quarter profit soared and cash flow jumped, enabling the British energy major to cut net debt faster than expected.

The company reported an underlying replacement-cost profit-a similar metric to the net income that U.S. oil companies report-of $8.46 billion for the third quarter of the year. This compares with the $2.21 billion it reported in the same period last year and the $7.33 billion analysts expected, according to a company-compiled consensus.

AstraZeneca Launches $1.5 Billion Savings Plan to Fund Drug Pipeline

AstraZeneca said it is launching a $1.5 billion cost-savings program, as the U.K. drugmaker seeks to free up resources to invest in its drug pipeline.

The company disclosed the plan on Friday alongside its third-quarter results, which showed increases in revenue and profit after strong sales of cancer drugs offset the effect of patent expirations to lift the group's top line.

Bayer Wins First U.S. Trial Over Roundup Since Supreme Court Ruling

A Missouri Circuit Court sided with Bayer's Monsanto business in a case over its Roundup weedkiller, handing the company a win in the first trial since the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in its favor in June.

Bayer said late Thursday that the court jury ruled for Monsanto on the design defect, fraud, and negligence claims that each of the three plaintiffs pursued.

Bank of Japan Declares Inflation Win, Clearing Way for Rate Hikes

TOKYO-The Bank of Japan declared a major victory in its decadeslong battle against deflation, paving the way for more interest-rate hikes.

Underlying inflation has reached roughly 2%, the central bank said Friday. That's the first time it achieved that goal since 2013, when it signed an accord with the government to defeat deflation.

French Economy Unexpectedly Contracts as Debt Worries Mount

France's economy shrank in the third quarter, deepening concerns over the government's debt load amid enduring political paralysis.

Gross domestic product, a measure of the goods and services produced in an economy, fell back 0.1% in the three months through September, after stagnating in the second quarter, France's statistics agency Insee said Friday.

Inside the U.S. Military's Open-Ended Mission to Keep Gulf Oil Flowing

ABOARD THE USS GEORGE WASHINGTON IN THE ARABIAN SEA-Under the cover of darkness, American jet fighters loaded with air-to-air missiles catapult off the deck of the aircraft carrier USS George Washington and make their way toward the Strait of Hormuz to shoot down Iranian cruise missiles and drones aimed at commercial ships.

With Smucker's Uncrustable sandwiches, gum and bathroom bags to get through the night, F-35C and F/A-18 pilots sync up with electronic-warfare planes, flying radar systems and submarine-hunting helicopters to create an umbrella of protection over tankers transiting the waterway. Hours later, the pilots slam back onto the carrier traveling more than 100 miles an hour, a cable catching their tailhooks to bring the night's work to an end in less than two seconds.

How Alaska Became the Most Chaotic Senate Battleground in America

ANCHORAGE-As winter set in and Election Day neared in Alaska, high prices for diesel and home heating oil drove voter anger at President Trump and incumbent Republican Sen. Dan S. Sullivan, making the Senate race in this red state one of the most competitive in the country.

Now, with just days to go, allegations that Democrat Mary Peltola's campaign secretly worked to recruit a spoiler candidate to help her party win the pivotal Alaska seat-and potentially retake control of the Senate-has become this midterm election's biggest October surprise.

Machado's Return Offers a Preview of Venezuela's Next Election-Whenever It Comes

CARACAS-Interim President Delcy Rodríguez and opposition leader María Corina Machado laid out competing visions for Venezuela on Thursday, sounding the opening gun of a power struggle between the White House-backed leader and the country's most popular political figure.

"The transition toward democracy is irreversible," Machado said in her first news conference since her surprise return from exile Sunday, as she pushed for elections. Outside the university auditorium, where Machado fielded questions, hundreds of cheering students sang the national anthem and shouted "freedom."

Write to clare.kinochc@wsj.com

TODAY IN CANADA Earnings:

Cameco Corp Canadian National Railway Energy Fuels Imperial Oil Ltd Magna Intl Inc. Sprott Inc.

Economic Indicators (ET):

0830 Aug GDP

EU-Canada summit concludes

Stocks to Watch:

Air Canada Expects High Fuel Costs to Eat Further Into Profit

Black Diamond Group 3Q Revenue Beats Estimates; 3Q Gross Profit CAD 65.6M; 3Q Adj EBIT CAD 23.6M; 3Q Adj EBITDA CAD 42.3M; 3Q Basic EPS CAD 0.16; 3Q FFO CAD 43.6M; 3Q Revenue CAD 159.9M; FactSet Est. CAD 144.8M; 3Q Capex CAD 26.8M; 3Q Pretax Profit CAD 13.8M; 3Q Adj Basic EPS CAD 0.19

(MORE TO FOLLOW) Dow Jones Newswires

October 30, 2026 06:17 ET (10:17 GMT)