Weekly Market Review: 02nd November 2026

In the United States, artificial intelligence companies led a recovery in share prices, with the S&P 500 and NASDAQ rising on each of the first three days of the week. Chipmakers rallied on Monday after Anthropic filed publicly for a stock market listing, and the NASDAQ added 1.2% on Tuesday as AI shares extended their gains. Shares edged higher on Wednesday after the Federal Reserve left interest rates unchanged. Results from two of the largest technology companies after the close on Wednesday drew sharply different reactions. Microsoft’s shares rose about 4% in after-hours trading after revenue grew 19% to $92.3 billion, led by 48% growth at its Azure cloud business. Alphabet’s shares fell about 10% after hours, even though Google Cloud revenue more than doubled to $30.7 billion, as advertising sales fell short of forecasts and heavy spending on artificial intelligence left free cash flow negative for a second quarter. Elsewhere, Weil, Gotshal & Manges, one of Wall Street’s best-known law firms, said its leadership had recommended an orderly wind-down of the firm after a wave of senior partner departures and failed merger talks with Willkie Farr & Gallagher. A steep sell off ensued on Friday after weaker than expected earnings from Amazon, with shares in the e-commerce giant falling over 10% before recovering. For the week, the S&P 500 and NASDAQ closed 0.73% and 2.00% lower, respectively.

In Europe, shares rose to their highest level since early September after the ECB left rates unchanged on Thursday. Novartis raised its full-year profit forecast on Tuesday after strong demand for newer medicines, including the breast cancer treatment Kisqali, lifted core operating income by 10%, although a $1.9 billion write-down on a drug that failed a late-stage trial cut reported profit. On Wednesday, Banco Santander reported a 19% rise in underlying third-quarter profit to €3.8 billion, helped by its recent acquisitions in the UK and the US, but its shares fell more than 5% as profits in Brazil, its second-largest market, declined. For the week, the Euro Stoxx 50 and STOXX Europe 600 closed 0.89% and 1.49% higher, respectively.

In the United Kingdom, banks rallied on Wednesday after the Budget’s rise in the bank surcharge, to 6% from 3% for 15 months, proved smaller than had been reported beforehand, with Lloyds gaining almost 2%. On Thursday, Lloyds reported that third-quarter pre-tax profit almost doubled to £2.3 billion, in line with forecasts, helped by a 10% rise in net interest income and a sharp fall in charges linked to car finance compensation, and said it remained on track to meet its full-year targets. Lloyds’ shares nevertheless fell about 5% by midday. For the week, the FTSE 100 closed 0.10% higher.