US stocks open higher as AI trade steadies, oil falls
Technology and artificial intelligence-related counters are recovering after a dismal October
Published Mon, Nov 2, 2026 · 10:35 PM
[BENGALURU] Wall Street’s main indices opened higher on Monday (Nov 2) with technology and artificial intelligence-related stocks steadying after a dismal October, while risk sentiment got a lift as crude oil prices dropped sharply amid growing hopes of a US-Iran peace deal.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 403.09 points or 0.78 per cent at the open to 52,173.40. The S&P 500 rose 33.80 points or 0.45 per cent to 7,613.87, while the Nasdaq Composite rose 159.07 points or 0.63 per cent to 25,596.07.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 shed over US$2.5 trillion in market value last month and was on the brink of entering correction territory, as investors grew wary of Big Tech’s soaring AI spending while awaiting evidence of stronger returns.
Several companies have also tapped the bond market to finance those investments recently, amplifying concerns that debt-funded spending will become harder to justify as borrowing costs rise.
Sentiment towards the AI trade was mostly negative last week. Media reports on Friday stated that OpenAI has slashed the target for its latest funding round by US$10 billion.
A separate report stated that Blackstone told investors that Anthropic may not secure an investment-grade rating after its initial public offering.
Rival chipmaker AMD is set to report its earnings later this week.
“It is likely to remain volatile through the earnings season, and individual companies may get punished by the market if they’re not fulfilling the market’s asks on all of those fronts,” said Kiran Ganesh, multi-asset strategist at UBS Global Wealth Management.
Risk sentiment also got a lift from oil prices falling more than 4 per cent as talks between Iranian and Qatari officials on a deal to end the US-Israeli war on Iran raised hopes that Middle East supply disruptions could ease.
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This week’s key catalysts include the US midterm elections on Tuesday, which will determine whether Democrats can wrest control of Congress away from US President Donald Trump’s Republican Party.
Democrats are widely predicted to win the House of Representatives, but the Senate is more in doubt. Republicans controlled both chambers of Congress during the first two years of the Trump administration.
“Midterm elections tend to be unfavourable events for the party in power and a Democratic victory in the House of Representatives would return the US to divided government, which would hardly be unusual,” said Seth Meyer, global head of client portfolio management at Janus Henderson Investors. REUTERS
