Oil slides a fourth day as Iran war fears ease

Hi there, this is your daily ☕️ Finpresso.

Before The Bell

Change over the last 24 hours · as of Nov 5, 2026, 6:08 AM ET

Oil falls a fourth day as Iran war fears ease LINK

• Oil extended its slide for a fourth day on Thursday, after Trump's Republicans lost ground in this week's Congressional elections, easing fears that the US-Israeli war on Iran could escalate further.
• Brent fell 1.03% to $93.65 a barrel and US WTI dropped 1.29% to $86.98, a day after both benchmarks tumbled more than 8% to their lowest since August 31, as traders bet a weakened Trump has more reason to seek a deal.
• Analysts warn the selloff may be short-lived: the new Congress only takes office in January, so US policy hasn't actually changed, while commercial oil stocks in major consumers sit near a 15-year low and Iran could harden its stance.

Big Tech rallies after Democratic midterm sweep LINK

• Big Tech rallied after Democrats swept the US midterms, lifting Apple, Amazon, and Microsoft by 6% or more and pushing the Dow up 3%, as the result eased political uncertainty over Wall Street.
• The move split the AI trade: Goldman Sachs says Democratic state-level wins make data-center building bans more likely, potentially affecting about 45% of planned US data-center capacity, sending Nvidia down nearly 2% while hyperscalers that spend on chips gained.
• A slower buildout threatens revenue for chipmakers and builders and lower capital spending for cloud giants, the fear that recently pushed the Nasdaq 100 into correction, though Franklin Templeton's Stephen Dover said it changes where and how fast facilities get built, not underlying AI demand.

SpaceX's Qualcomm deal threatens major US wireless carriers LINK

• SpaceX has moved closer to building a nationwide mobile carrier to rival AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon, picking Qualcomm's Dragonwing platform to power the ground-based 5G network behind its Starlink Mobile service.
• The multi-year deal requires SpaceX to install Qualcomm chip technology across tens of thousands of cellular towers nationwide, with deployment starting next year and ramping toward full coverage, building on its recent purchase of 800 MHz spectrum licenses.
• The push follows AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon reportedly rejecting SpaceX's requests to rent their network capacity, prompting talks with EchoStar to run a carrier through its Boost Mobile brand, with the Big Three seeing little incentive to help a likely rival.

Arm beats estimates on data center demand LINK

• Arm reported quarterly revenue of $1.44 billion, beating the $1.38 billion analysts expected, as cloud providers building custom AI data-center chips paid more in licensing fees and royalties on its processor designs.
• Unlike firms that make chips, Arm licenses its architecture and collects royalties per chip shipped; licensing revenue of $773 million blew past estimates, though royalties of $670 million came in below forecasts.
• Despite the beat, Arm shares fell about 2% after hours, with the company guiding to third-quarter revenue of $1.54 billion, barely above what analysts had forecast.

FT reveals Oracle scrapped $7 billion Tencent chip deal LINK

• Oracle has cancelled a roughly $7 billion deal to lease AI chips to Tencent after Trump administration officials raised concerns with the company, the Financial Times reported, citing two people familiar with the matter.
• The five-year lease would have given Tencent access to as many as 100,000 advanced chips across Oracle data centers in Southeast Asia, its largest overseas leasing deal, chips it can't use at home due to both Washington and Beijing curbs.
• Tencent had already paid about 30% upfront, roughly $2.1 billion, and neither firm has said what happens to that money; the exit came despite existing rules allowing such deals, a day after Nvidia told customers most services must go to non-Chinese clients.

Macro News

• OCC tells examiners to assess AI by potential harm, not technical sophistication. LINK
• UK committee warns dangerous China reliance on critical minerals demands diversification. LINK
• EU commits €525 million to develop chip-design startups and strengthen industry. LINK
• Treasury drops steady auction-size guidance, allowing more short-term debt sales. LINK
• ADP reports 86,000 US jobs added, beating forecasts as labor market stabilizes. LINK
• Chinese diesel exports forecast to plunge as depleted stockpiles constrain shipments. LINK
• Equinor shuts Visund platform after fire halts all field gas exports. LINK
• US crude inventories fell, remaining below seasonal average as demand held firm. LINK
• Democratic congressional sweep may trigger tougher data-center restrictions nationwide. LINK

Corporate News

• Google invests $15 billion in Malaysian data centers amid surging AI demand. LINK
• Apple cuts employee AI-tool spending amid broader cost-control push. LINK
• Circle beats revenue estimates despite cutting 5% of workforce during restructuring. LINK
• Qualcomm beats estimates and raises sales outlook, but shares fall after hours. LINK
• OpenAI acquires Pierre Computer to expand Codex's AI coding tools. LINK
• Uber beats estimates but warns costs and regional weakness will pressure profits. LINK
• HP names former GSK chief Emma Walmsley CEO, effective January 2027. LINK
• Meta buys Conductor to let engineers run multiple AI coding agents simultaneously. LINK
• NextDC shares surge as Goodman and Digital Realty pursue stakes in operator. LINK
• Sequoia raises $10 billion, closes London office, and refocuses on San Francisco. LINK

Stocks

▲ Biggest winners

Hecla Mining Company rose 13% after reporting record Q3 silver production and raising full-year guidance. LINK

Procore Technologies rose 20% after Q3 revenue of $402 million beat $384 million estimate and full-year guidance was raised. LINK

Medline rose 18% after beating Q3 earnings estimates, raising its 2026 sales outlook to 10.0%-10.5% and announcing a $1 billion share buyback. LINK

▼ Biggest losers

Fidelity National Information Services fell 24% after slashing its 2026 earnings per share forecast and reporting third-quarter revenue below expectations. LINK

INNIO fell 20% after third-quarter earnings missed revenue expectations. LINK

Datadog fell 14% after fourth-quarter revenue guidance of $1.19-$1.20 billion matched third-quarter revenue, signaling slowing growth. LINK

Research & Reports

• BofA says slower AI spending could prolong stock rally amid data-center hurdles. LINK
• Financial firms pilot multi-agent AI, but few achieve enterprise-wide orchestration. LINK
• Fed study finds market power drives different rates for similar credit-card borrowers. LINK
• Bitwise says Bitcoin's mixed history suggests Binance hack won't hurt markets. LINK
• Britons use AI for money management but resist handing it financial control. LINK
• Treasury panel says circular AI-boom financing is deliberate and mostly sound. LINK

Market Calendar

Earnings  ·  Economic events