Opening Comment — Monday, November 02, 2026
DJIA: 51,770.31, down 572.25
S&P 500: 7,580.07, down 140.32
NASDAQ: 25,437.00, down 747.72
Stocks higher ahead of midterm elections
Stock futures are higher Monday morning ahead of today’s Institute for Supply Management (ISM) Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) and major tech earnings set to release after markets close. Investors are also looking ahead to tomorrow’s U.S. midterm elections, Friday’s jobs report and the preliminary University of Michigan consumer sentiment reading. As of 7:24 AM ET, the Dow and the S&P 500 Index are both rising 0.4%. The Nasdaq 100 is increasing 0.8% relative to fair value on the GLOBEX.
U.S. equities were lower on Friday following the tech selloff driven by artificial intelligence (AI) spending concerns. Meanwhile, the third-quarter Employment Cost Index decelerated to 0.8% quarter-over-quarter. The Dow was down 1.1%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite fell 2.9%. The S&P 500 decreased 1.8% with five of 11 sectors finishing in negative territory. The Energy sector was the top performer, rising 1.9%, while the Information Technology sector was the bottom performer, falling 4.2%.
On the data front, the finalized reading of S&P Global’s manufacturing PMI for October is expected to remain unchanged from the preliminary reading of 56.0. The ISM manufacturing PMI and prices paid component for October are expected to come in at 54.5 and 77.2, respectively, versus the prior month’s reading of 54.5 and 77.9, respectively. September’s construction spending is expected to have increased 0.3% month-over-month (MOM) compared to the prior month’s reading of 0.9%.
Across the pond, European stocks are higher in mid-day trading as Germany’s September retail sales unexpectedly declined by 2.0% MOM and fell by a more-than-expected 2.3% year-over-year (YOY). October’s finalized manufacturing PMI readings for France and the eurozone were revised higher to 49.5 and 52.7, respectively, while Germany’s and the U.K.’s readings remained unchanged at 54.2 and 52.8, respectively.
Overnight in Asia, stocks were mixed as China’s manufacturing and non-manufacturing PMIs both fell more than expected in October, declining to 49.3 and 49.7, respectively, while the composite PMI declined to 49.7. China’s private-sector manufacturing PMI from RatingDog fell to 52.0 in October, as expected. Australia’s Melbourne Institute Inflation gauge accelerated in October, rising 0.5% MOM and 4.9% YOY. The country’s finalized manufacturing PMI was revised lower to 49.6, while Japan’s remained unchanged at 53.3. Meanwhile, South Korea’s manufacturing PMI declined to 51.3 in October. South Korea’s trade surplus contracted less than expected in October, with exports rising more than expected by 93.7% YOY and imports increasing less than expected by 36.0% YOY.
In FOREX trading, the U.S. dollar is lower ahead of today’s U.S. PMI data release.
Over in the commodity pits, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil is 4.5% lower at $99.48/barrel and Brent crude oil is down 4.3% at $108.52/barrel amidst easing concerns regarding the Middle East conflict.
In the metals complex, gold is 0.7% higher at $3,899.94/ounce following a weakening U.S. dollar.