(Nov 3) : A selloff in chipmakers weighed on stocks, offsetting a slump in oil prices driven by hopes for diplomatic efforts to end the war in Iran.

West Texas Intermediate settled near US$96.50 a barrel. While most S&P 500 firms rose, the index fell amid technology weakness. The Nasdaq 100 sank 10% from its peak, entering a technical correction. In late hours, Apple Inc. posted decelerating sales growth, with China revenue missing estimates. Long-term Treasuries outperformed.

The plunge in energy costs reverberated across markets a day before Americans cast ballots in the midterm elections.

Iran President Masoud Pezeshkian said his government has been granted more authority by the country’s supreme leader to pursue peace talks, as President Donald Trump hinted at progress in negotiations.

“They want to make a deal, and that could happen,” he told reporters in Washington. Trump added that oil prices had fallen because “it looks like that’s coming together very nicely” and “people found out about it.” 

Moments later, he mouthed “No,” when a reporter shouted a question about whether he would resume military strikes on Iran after Tuesday’s midterm elections.

“It’s going to be an extremely interesting week in the markets,” said Matt Maley at Miller Tabak. “We’ll have political issues to decipher as well as geopolitical ones.”

Meantime, growing doubts about AI investment returns will likely matter much more than historical patterns in determining the market’s direction going forward, he noted.

For almost three months, big tech companies didn’t borrow in the US bond market. Now they’re flooding in again.

Oracle Corp. is selling US$10 billion of bonds on Monday alongside an equal amount of equity, while Meta Platforms Inc. is eyeing at least US$20 billion from a potential sale in multiple currencies. On Thursday, Microsoft Corp. sold US$25 billion of bonds, its first US offering since 2017. The deluge is coming in other currencies too. Alphabet Inc. sold debt in the Europe bond market on Monday for the second time this year.

uploaded by Isabelle Francis