MONEY RADAR
—
MARKET BRIEFING · US

Falling oil lifted the Dow, but money kept leaving AI hardware and the Nasdaq alone fell.

November 2, 2026 · Read the Korean original

Major indices

  • Dow 51,983.98 +0.41%
  • S&P 500 7,541.40 -0.51%
  • Nasdaq 25,164.32 -1.07%

What moved the overnight session was oil, not earnings. With Washington and Tehran both signalling room for diplomacy and reports of Qatari mediation over the weekend, much of the war premium built up through October came out in a single day. Oilprice.com reported that Brent and West Texas Intermediate fell close to 7% at one point, with WTI giving up the $100-a-barrel mark. The expectation of softer price pressure moved straight into bonds: by CNBC's tally the 10-year Treasury yield traded around 4.896%, more than three basis points lower, and the 30-year touched its lowest level since early September. The dollar also eased, which analysts partly attributed to investors trimming long dollar positions ahead of the November 3 midterm elections.

The result was not a one-way market. Money moved into cyclicals, consumer names and financials, which breathe easier when energy costs fall, while selling continued in anything tied to the question of when AI spending starts paying off. The Dow rose 0.41% to close at 51,983.98, while the S&P 500 lost 0.51% to 7,541.40 and the Nasdaq fell 1.07% to 25,164.32. On a day when the indexes split, the character of the session lies in the rotation underneath rather than in the averages.

What the losers had in common was the question of where the money for AI will come from. Oracle (ORCL, cloud and database) fell another 6% after filing plans to issue $10 billion of stock and $10 billion of senior notes to fund its AI buildout, and Applied Digital (APLD, AI data-center hosting) slumped after its chief executive said 800 MW of a 1.4 GW expansion is still unfunded, dragging down Nebius (NBIS, AI cloud) and CoreWeave (CRWV, GPU cloud) with it. CoreWeave set another all-time low. Memory and storage names also fell 6% to 8% - Western Digital (WDC, hard-drive storage), Sandisk (SNDK, NAND flash memory) and Micron (MU, DRAM and HBM memory) - as the supply-glut debate met Intel's warning about memory shortages. On the other side, Rivian (RIVN, electric vehicles) rose 10% on a UBS upgrade, and Tempus AI (TEM, precision-medicine data) jumped after third-quarter results beat expectations.

Korean trading today is likely to inherit that same split. The memory and storage selloff has run for several sessions now, which may weigh on Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix; the KOSPI's 3.48% drop on October 30 came from the same source. Doubts about AI data-center financing may show up first in sentiment toward power-infrastructure names such as transformer and cable makers that have been counting on US grid investment. The oil slide cuts both ways: refiners face inventory losses, while petrochemicals, airlines and shipping see lighter input costs, so the same catalyst may push different directions within a sector.

Earnings released after the close are not fully in prices yet. Apple (AAPL, smartphones and devices) beat expectations with fiscal fourth-quarter revenue of $114.48 billion and earnings of $2.10 a share, but slipped about 1% after hours as Greater China sales came in below estimates, while Palantir (PLTR, data-analytics software) drew a muted response despite 96% revenue growth and a raised full-year outlook. What is confirmed is that oil and yields fell and only the Dow rose; whether AI capital spending is actually turning down or simply rotating remains press interpretation. The midterm results on November 3 are the next variable for that reading.

Korean industries to watch today

  • Semiconductors · The continued slide in US memory and storage names may weigh on Samsung and SK Hynix.
  • Power infrastructure · Doubts over AI data-center financing may dent hopes for power-equipment exports.
  • Chemicals & refining · The oil slide splits refiners' inventory risk from cheaper chemical feedstock.

Watchlist stocks in the news

  • Micron (MU) Close -5.85% · Kept falling as the supply-glut debate met Intel's warning on memory shortages. (investingLive)
  • Sandisk (SNDK) Close -6.59% · Sat at the centre of the memory selloff amid doubts over NAND pricing. (investingLive)
  • Western Digital (WDC) Close -7.52% · Fell the most among memory and storage names as demand expectations wobbled. (investingLive)
  • NVIDIA (NVDA) · Slipped around 1% with the broader AI hardware selloff, without its own catalyst. (CNBC)
  • Meta (META) · Weakened with other megacaps as doubts about AI spending payback persisted. (CNBC)
  • Oracle (ORCL) · Fell another 6% after filing to issue $10 billion of stock and $10 billion of senior notes for its AI buildout. (CNBC)
  • SpaceX (SPCX) · Rose more than 3% on a report it is in talks to buy or use Dish Network's Boost Mobile. (CNBC)
  • Applied Digital (APLD) · Slumped after its CEO said 800 MW of a 1.4 GW expansion still lacks financing. (24/7 Wall St.)
  • Nebius (NBIS) · Fell with other neoclouds as Applied Digital's funding gap spread through the group. (24/7 Wall St.)
  • CoreWeave (CRWV) · Set another all-time low on AI debt worries, widening its one-month loss to 44%. (Benzinga)
  • Dell (DELL) · Declined with other server makers as memory costs and the AI server selloff overlapped. (24/7 Wall St.)
  • SMCI (SMCI) · Dropped about 5% as the AI server selloff extended ahead of its earnings. (24/7 Wall St.)
  • RIVN (RIVN) · Climbed 10% after UBS upgraded it to buy, standing out amid the tech weakness. (CNBC)
  • TEM (TEM) · Gained nearly 12% as third-quarter revenue and adjusted EBITDA both beat estimates. (CNBC)

Sources (Korean-language)

This market briefing was compiled by AI from this site's own price and filing data together with public news reports, and translated from the Korean original. Please check the sources below before relying on it.

← All articles