Markets
The 7am Briefing: Meta and Tesla jolt the AI trade as Asia slides and oil tops $111
Nasdaq futures fall 1.7%, Kospi drops 3.5% and Brent tops $111 after Gulf attacks.
HedgeWeekly Video & Briefing Desk ·
Top line: Meta beat on sales and Tesla beat on profit, yet Nasdaq 100 futures were down about 1.7% at 4:12 a.m. ET, with S&P 500 futures down 0.97% and Dow futures down 0.58%, according to FXStreet. The 10-year Treasury yield was about 5.09%, Brent about $111.03, gold about $4,088 and bitcoin about $82,690 in early trade.
Markets and macro: Meta's third-quarter revenue rose 26% to $64.6 billion, above the roughly $63.3 billion expected, but $34.9 billion of capital spending turned free cash flow negative and Meta bought back no stock. It also plans a non-voting Class C share. Tesla beat on profit and cut its 2026 capex plan to about $20 billion; FXStreet said Tesla was down nearly 5% before the bell and Meta about 0.4%.
Markets and macro: Japan's Nikkei 225 fell around 3%, South Korea's Kospi 3.5% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng 3%, CoinDesk reported. China's CSI 300 slid 2%, leaving it 20% below its June peak, a bear market. Hong Kong-listed Chinese tech shares had their worst session since April 2025, according to Bloomberg's David Ingles.
Markets and macro: The STOXX 600 fell 0.84% to 639.05 by 3:12 a.m. ET, Reuters reported via Investing.com. Barclays fell 2.5% after pre-tax profit of £2.3 billion missed the roughly £2.4 billion expected, Hermès lost 6.7% on slightly weaker sales and Nestlé rose 2.3% after organic growth of 4.0% beat forecasts.
Also overnight: Oil climbed more than 2% after Houthi attacks in Saudi Arabia, and the US ordered non-emergency staff to leave the country. New Zealand inflation slowed to 3.7%, below the central bank's 3.9% forecast.
Hedge fund moves: Redemption notices at funds administered by SS&C GlobeOp fell to 1.62% of assets for October from 2.02% in September, below the five-year average of 2.06%. SS&C figures show hedge funds up 8.27% this year.
Hedge fund moves: Jana Partners has built a stake in Casella Waste Systems and wants it to commit to a 27% EBITDA margin by 2029, up from 22.7% last quarter, with pay tied more closely to shareholder returns.
Earnings to watch: Meta guided fourth-quarter revenue to $73 billion to $76 billion and faces a $25 billion New Mexico privacy penalty it will appeal. Tesla earned $0.48 a share, adjusted, on revenue of $28.05 billion. Lam Research posted record revenue of $8.22 billion but fell about 7% after hours. IBM earned $2.95 a share against $2.86 expected yet slipped after hours. Procter & Gamble reports before the open.
HedgeWeekly Stockwatch: Meta, Tesla, Lam Research and Barclays are in focus today; the full Stockwatch carries the bull and bear case for each.
Today's calendar (ET): 8:30 a.m. weekly jobless claims, forecast 200,000 against 199,000; 10:00 a.m. September leading index, forecast -0.1%; 11:00 a.m. Kansas City Fed manufacturing survey; 1:00 p.m. $26 billion 5-year TIPS auction. The Fed's meeting ends with a decision on October 28.
Number of the day: 5.38%, the 30-year Treasury yield early today, down 2.8 basis points and its lowest since September 23, according to the Global FX Futures morning briefing.
One thing to watch: With no mega-cap results until Microsoft and Alphabet next week, watch whether chip stocks find buyers after Asia's sell-off, or whether oil and the Gulf take over the story.