North American Morning Briefing: Nasdaq Futures Surge as AI Optimism Grips Markets

Stock futures were up as the AI-linked trade revived and investors sought

to look past October's hotter-than-expected consumer price index.

Tech stocks were poised to rebound after upbeat earnings from CoreWeave eased investors' fears about the AI trade.

Oil prices rebounded, with Brent crude recovering above $92 a barrel after a sharp selloff, as renewed strikes in the region tempered expectations of a diplomatic resolution to the U.S.-Iran conflict.

After Tuesday's stronger-than-expected U.S. inflation data, markets moved to lock in expectations of a December Federal Reserve rate hike, with the probability of a quarter-point hike priced at 88%, according to LSEG.

Inflation remains too high for the Fed, making a further interest-rate rise at the next FOMC meeting inevitable, said Julius Baer.

Stocks to watch

Alibaba: Hong Kong regulators gave their approval to a listing of the Chinese tech giant's semiconductor business, T-Head, which Nomura estimated could be valued at $85 billion. New York-listed depository receipts were steady premarket after the stock closed slightly lower in Hong Kong.

CoreWeave jumped over 10% premarket as the AI cloud provider soothed investor jitters by beating Wall Street expectations for its third-quarter revenue.

Micron Technology, Broadcom, Intel, Advanced Micro Devices: Chip makers rallied across the board premarket, as news from CoreWeave, TSMC and Alibaba combined to revive confidence in the AI trade.

Nvidia is on pace to claw back some of the past two days' losses, following Jensen Huang's affair with an alleged Chinese spy. They are down 9.5% so far this week.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing's board approved plans for the company to invest $500 million apiece in Anthropic and OpenAI. TSMC stock climbed premarket.

Watch For:

U.S. bond markets closed for Veterans Day holiday

Today's Top Headlines/Must Reads:

- Fed Forced to Confront Case for Bigger and Faster Rate Rises

- Jensen Huang Affair Revives Push for Chip Restrictions on Capitol Hill

- CoreWeave Finds a Workaround to Capital Constraints-for Now

MARKET WRAPS Forex:

The dollar remained elevated after reaching a near two-week high against a basket of currencies on Tuesday following higher-than-anticipated U.S. inflation data.

The euro fell. The outlook for the euro-dollar exchange rate could remain challenging until lofty U.S. interest-rate rise expectations are called into question, Commerzbank said. Sterling rose. The currency is expected to perform well against lower-yielding safe-haven currencies due to high yields on U.K. government bonds, Convera said. Bonds:

Treasury investors were set to take a breather on Wednesday's Veterans Day holiday after hawkish comments from a Federal Reserve governor and higher-than-expected October inflation data triggered a sharp bond selloff Tuesday.

Energy:

Oil prices increased. The gains followed several sessions of steep declines after President Trump signaled that further U.S. military action against Iran was unlikely for now, raising hopes that negotiations could bring an end to the conflict.

Metals:

Gold prices ticked higher after Tuesday's slide, but further gains are capped by stronger-than-expected U.S. inflation data and expectations of higher interest rates next month. The precious metal's outlook remains compelling in the long term, according to Julius Baer.

TODAY'S TOP HEADLINES

McCormick's $65 Billion Unilever Foods Tie-Up Could Harm Competition, U.K. Regulator Warns

A tie-up between McCormick and Unilever's foods business could harm competition, the U.K.'s competition watchdog said, citing concerns about a deal poised to combine two major makers of dry ingredients and sauces.

The Competition and Markets Authority said the deal, which would create a new sauces-to-spices giant valued at more than $65 billion including debt, could harm competition in one or more markets in the U.K. It gave the companies one week-until Nov. 18-to offer commitments to address its concerns.

CoreWeave Finds a Workaround to Capital Constraints-for Now

CoreWeave's success hinges on rapidly expanding its data center footprint while driving down its cost of capital. Both of those things have become much more challenging lately.

Strains in CoreWeave's business model have made the Nvidia-backed AI cloud-computing company an outlet for investor angst about the AI boom. Its stock has fallen about 65% since reaching a peak in May, although it rose in after-hours trading Tuesday after reporting strong quarterly results.

OpenAI Continues to Suffer Heavy Losses as Revenue Rises to $10 Billion

OpenAI grew revenue by roughly 50% to $10 billion from the second to the third quarter, but continued to report heavy operating losses, showing mixed results in its effort to catch up with industry leader Anthropic.

The company shared its latest results with investors on Tuesday, just as Anthropic was preparing to mount its much-anticipated IPO next week. The maker of Claude recently disclosed that its revenue rose to $17 billion in the third quarter while reporting a smaller operating loss of $567 million during that period.

Payward to Launch Tokenized Versions of U.K., European Stocks

Nasdaq-backed Payward will launch tokenized versions of more than 200 of the most-traded U.K. and European stocks, the latest in a stream of crypto companies looking to bridge traditional and decentralized finance.

Siemens, Shell and LVMH are among the companies that will trade 24/7 as digital tokens via xStocks, Payward's framework for tokenized stocks. All stocks in both London's FTSE 100 and the German DAX are among those that will be tokenized, the company said.

U.S. Treasurys Pause on Market Holiday After Inflation-Fueled Selloff

U.S. Treasury investors are set to take a breather on Wednesday's Veterans Day holiday after hawkish comments from a Federal Reserve governor and higher-than-expected October inflation data triggered a sharp bond selloff Tuesday.

Treasury yields moved sharply higher Tuesday after Fed Governor Christopher Waller said at a conference in London that he would support a 25-basis-point interest rate increase in December, but if inflation came in substantially higher than expected, "more robust action" might be needed.

Chip Stocks Look Like They're in Another Dot-Com Bubble. But This Time Could Be Different.

On the surface, semiconductor stocks appear to be in the same stage of the cycle they were in during the late 1990s-a scary proposition for anyone concerned about a sector collapse.

By late 1998, the S&P 500 Semiconductors & Semiconductor Equipment Industry Group index, home to companies such as Advanced Micro Devices and Broadcom, was still riding its internet-driven rally. It had gained almost 400% from 1995, just after the internet era began in earnest, as chips saw surging demand from personal computers and physical internet infrastructure. From there, the index would go on to have almost two more years of large gains before crashing hard in 2000, when the bubble burst.

Oil Prices Rebound as Middle East Supply Risks Persist

Oil prices rose Wednesday, with Brent crude recovering above $92 a barrel after a sharp selloff, as renewed strikes in the region tempered expectations of a diplomatic resolution to the U.S.-Iran conflict.

Front-month Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, rose 1.2% to $92.55 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate futures gained 0.7% to $86.67 a barrel.

Fed Forced to Confront Case for Bigger and Faster Rate Rises

Federal Reserve officials spent October talking markets down from bets on a quick string of rate increases. Inflation data haven't cooperated.

Core consumer prices, which exclude food and energy, rose at a 3.7% annualized rate over the three months through October, a broad acceleration from the 1.6% rate for the three months through July, according to a Labor Department report released Tuesday.

Trump's Plan to Import Russian Diesel Stalls on the High Seas

President Trump's efforts to supply the U.S. with Russian diesel have yet to result in any new imports into the country, as several fuel tankers bound for America shifted course following difficulties finding buyers willing to accept the controversial cargoes.

Trump saw Russian diesel as a way to lower sky-high prices for the fuel, which contributed to rising consumer costs in the U.S. in the run-up to the midterm elections. But the diverted ships show U.S. oil companies are reluctant to handle the cargoes of Russian diesel because of the potential legal and reputational consequences, industry executives and lobbyists said.

Hegseth Survives Impeachment Effort in House

WASHINGTON-Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth fended off an impeachment effort Tuesday evening in the House, after GOP votes helped to kill the effort to punish him for his actions as President Trump's Pentagon chief.

The House voted to refer the articles of impeachment proposed by Rep. Thomas Massie (R., Ky.) back to the Judiciary Committee for consideration, effectively blocking the effort for now. The vote was 211 to 204, with Massie as the only Republican who sided with Democrats.

Progressives Lose California Wealth Tax Battle-but Aren't Conceding the War

Progressives' yearslong quest to tax wealth failed its biggest test in California.

That doesn't mean the idea is going away.

John Thune Wins Another Term as Senate GOP Leader Despite Grumbling

WASHINGTON-Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R., S.D.) won re-election Tuesday as the head of the GOP conference next year, overcoming calls from some of his colleagues to delay the vote until the party could reckon with sweeping midterm-election losses.

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