North American Morning Briefing: Stock Futures Higher as Investors Weigh Blue Win

Stock futures reversed course and traded higher on Wednesday, as

investors reassessed their reaction to Democrats taking control of both chambers of Congress.

The rebound followed comments by President Trump that he would accept the election results and that he looked forward to working with Democrats.

While Saxo Bank said that the market may be too quick to assume that a Democratic Congress translates directly into weaker growth, Capital Economics warned that the democratic sweep of the midterm elections could bring new geopolitical risks.

Meanwhile, oil prices dropped, paring earlier gains, as investors weighed the implications for President Trump's approach to Iran, amid uncertainty over whether Washington will pursue diplomacy or renew military strikes.

Treasury yields were down slightly, but Vontobel said that a divided government can support Treasurys by limiting further fiscal expansion.

This morning, earnings from Qualcomm and McDonalds, while data prints include the ISM services index for October, the ADP's report of private payrolls for October and the balance of trade for September.

Stocks to Watch

Advanced Micro Devices shares surged premarket after it beat Wall Street expectations for sales in the latest quarter.

CoreWeave shares dipped ahead of the open, as the defeat of Republican governors in Texas and Ohio has raised the potential for state-level policies that could slow the AI infrastructure buildout.

SpaceX's shares slid more than 3% premarket after Democrats swept Congress and unseated the Republican governor of Texas, a key state for planned buildouts of data centers. Musk's Tesla fell about 3.5%.

Trump Media & Technology's shares sank nearly 7% ahead of the opening bell following the midterm election results.

Watch For:

U.S. ADP National Employment Report for October; U.S. International Trade in Goods & Services for September; U.S. ISM Report On Business Services PMI for October; EIA Weekly Petroleum Status Report; Canada International merchandise trade for September; CVS Health 3Q earnings; Kraft Heinz 3Q earnings; McDonald's 3Q earnings; Uber Technologies 3Q earnings

Today's Top Headlines/Must Reads:

- How Beer Companies Stole Happy Hour From Liquor Brands

- Trump Probes and Policy Fights: Here Is Democrats' New Agenda

- Silicon Valley Promises AI Will Cure Disease. Drugmaker CEOs Aren't Buying It.

MARKET WRAPS Forex:

The dollar stayed weaker after reaching a one-month low against a basket of currencies as the Democrats were firmly on course to take control of both Congress and the Senate in the U.S. midterm elections.

Bitcoin rose slightly but investors should expect a much more hostile regulatory environment for cryptocurrencies under a Democratic Congress, Capital said.

Bonds:

Treasurys declined, undoing earlier gains. Inflation and Federal Reserve policy are likely to matter more for bonds than the election results, while any renewed rise in energy prices could complicate the outlook, Vontobel said.

Energy:

Oil prices fell while a Democratic sweep in the midterm elections could increase geopolitical risks and potentially push Brent crude above $120 a barrel if President Trump resumes strikes on Iran, Capital Economics said .

Metals:

Gold prices climbed as the U.S. midterm election results boosted demand for safe-haven assets.

TODAY'S TOP HEADLINES

Lockheed Martin to Pay $29.5 Million to Settle Federal Probe Over Diversity Efforts

Lockheed Martin will pay $29.5 million to resolve federal allegations that it discriminated against white workers as part of its diversity, equity and inclusion policies.

It is the latest settlement stemming from investigations launched by the Trump administration in a broad effort to root out diversity initiatives at major U.S. companies contracting with the federal government. Companies including Deloitte, Accenture and IBM have reached similar settlements with the Justice Department.

CVS Will Break Off Its Namesake Pharmacies

CVS Health has decided to split in two, reversing one of the signature deals that defined an era of health industry gigantism.

One company will house its insurance giant Aetna and pharmacy-benefit manager Caremark, the other its 9,000 retail pharmacies.

Pfizer CEO Bourla Bets the Viagra Playbook Can Crack the Obesity Market

The modern version of Pfizer has many faces: a pandemic success story, an oncology powerhouse, and now an aspiring player in weight-loss drugs. It may sound like a stretch, but Pfizer's chief executive believes the company can replicate the playbook from one of its most iconic blockbusters.

"The market has proven very resilient, very big," CEO Albert Bourla said in an interview with Barron's. "You can see what has happened with Eli Lilly's stock because they are doing well with GLP-1s, and there's a reason for that."

Eurozone Inflation Rises to 4%, Driven by Energy Costs

Inflation in the eurozone rose for a fourth straight month in October as energy costs continued to rise, reinforcing expectations that the European Central Bank could hike its key interest rate again after holding it steady last week.

Consumer prices were 4.0% higher in October than the same month last year, accelerating from a 3.8% increase in September and marking the highest rate of inflation since September 2023, the European Union's statistics office Eurostat said Wednesday. Economists surveyed last week by The Wall Street Journal expected inflation at 3.9%.

Democrats Win Victories on a Historic Scale

Democrats delivered a blue shellacking in Tuesday's midterm elections, reclaiming control of the House and Senate, as voters voiced their discontent over President Trump and prepared to usher in a new era of divided government during his final two years in office.

"Now against all odds, we Democrats have won the Senate and we have five words for the American people: Relief is on the way," Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer of New York, who is expected to be the majority leader, told reporters outside Senate Democrats' campaign headquarters in Washington, D.C.

North Korea, on Busiest Missile-Testing Spree in Years, Rebuffs Trump Diplomacy

SEOUL-North Korea accelerated a spree of missile tests on Wednesday, signaling it would stick to its guns as the Kim Jong Un regime defiantly spurned U.S. diplomatic overtures with a growing list of demands.

The test of several missiles on Wednesday morning, reported by South Korea's defense ministry, followed tests of cluster munitions and submarine-launched cruise missiles in recent weeks. The past two months have seen the most concentrated burst of North Korean testing since 2023, with a total of nine known launches.

Once a Haven for Guerrillas, Venezuela Now Helps U.S. Attack Them

U.S. military drones struck a camp belonging to leftist guerrillas inside Venezuela, killing more than two dozen fighters in an operation carried out with the cooperation of a Venezuelan government that for decades had welcomed the insurgents, said people in Washington and Venezuela familiar with the operation.

The strike Friday against the National Liberation Army-known as the ELN, a Colombian guerrilla group that traffics cocaine and gold-marks a dramatic reversal in Venezuela's relationship with insurgents now that the Trump administration exerts heavy pressure on the Venezuelan government. Under former Presidents Hugo Chávez and Nicolás Maduro, the ELN and other armed groups were openly welcomed and used Venezuela as a base from which to launch attacks against the Colombian state.

Write to nina.kienle@wsj.com

TODAY IN CANADA Earnings:

Allied Gold Aris Mining ATS Corp. Avino Silver B2Gold Corp. Brookfield Calfrac Well Canfor Corp. CareRx Corp. Cenovus Engy Coeur Mining Colliers Dexterra Grp DRI Health Energy Fuels Fortuna Ming. Great-West Hut 8 Corp. Kinaxis Inc. Labrador Iron Linamar Corp. Lundin Gold Lundin Mining Manulife Fin Maple Leaf Martinrea NexGen Energy NA Constr Grp Nutrien Ltd. OceanaGold Pan American Russel Metals Savaria Corp. South Bow Sprott Inc. Stella-Jones Sun Life Fin. Torex Gold Taseko Mines Wesdome Gold WSP Global

Economic Indicators (ET):

0815 Oct Official International Reserves 0830 Sep International merchandise trade 0930 Oct Canada Services PMI

Stocks to Watch:

Boardwalk REIT FY Outlook FFO Per Share CAD 4.65 - 4.75; 3Q Rental Income CAD 159.8M; 3Q FFO CAD 60.2M; 3Q Adj FFO CAD 51.9M; 3Q Adj FFO Per Share CAD 1.04; 3Q Net Operating Income CAD 98.2M; 3Q FFO Per Share CAD 1.21; 3Q FFO C$1.21/Shr; Sees 2026 FFO C4.65/Shr-FFOC4.75/Shr

Dream Industrial REIT 3Q Net C65.4M;3QFFOC0.28/Shr

Ecosynthetix 3Q EPS 0c; 3Q Sales $3.65M; 3Q Loss $258,668

Element Fleet Management 3Q Adj Operating Income $182M; 3Q Adj Operating Margin 56.8%; 3Q Revenue $320.7M; FactSet Est. $322.3M; 3Q EPS $0.33; 3Q Adj Revenue $320.7M; 3Q Adj EPS $0.35; FactSet Est. $0.35; FY Outlook Adj EPS $1.40 - 1.45; FactSet Est. $1.40; 3Q Pretax Profit $170.2M; FY Outlook Adj Operating Income $720M - 745M; Expects FY26 Originations to Be Below Guidance Range; Expects 2027 Net Rev Growth to Moderate to Low-Single Digit Range Ex-Impact of Foreign Exchange; 3Q Rev $320.7M; 3Q Adj EPS 35c; Sees Other FY26 Fincl Metrics at or Near Lower End of Respective Ranges; Sees FY26 Adj Net Rev 1.28B-1.305B; Sees FY26 Adj EPS $1.40-Adj EPS $1.45

Fairfax Financial Holdings 3Q Net Insurance Revenue $7.06B; 3Q Net Income $1.1B; 3Q Underwriting Profit $523.9M; 3Q Pretax Profit $1.43B; 3Q Gross Written Premiums $9.11B; 3Q Rev $8.77B; 3Q EPS $43.32

Firm Capital Property 3Q C8.10NetAssetValuePerUnit;3QFFOC0.145/Shr

Intact Financial 3Q Combined Ratio 94%; 3Q EPS CAD 3.03

Ivanhoe Mines 3Q Net Income $45M; 3Q Adj EBITDA $241M

New Pacific Metals 1Q Loss/Shr 1c

(MORE TO FOLLOW) Dow Jones Newswires

November 04, 2026 06:17 ET (11:17 GMT)