Market Briefing, Nov 2, 2026: Tech Selloff Meets a Rebound Bid Ahead of Apple and Palantir Earnings

Market Briefing, Monday, November 2, 2026

Tech led Friday's selloff: XLK fell 4.89% while energy and staples gained. Options flow was heavily bearish too, with net call premium at -$792.7M, mostly in NVDA, SNDK, SPCX, INTC and MU. Overnight, US equity futures advanced to halt a bruising selloff in the artificial intelligence trade, with falling oil prices helping stocks to start the month on a positive note. Today depends on the 10:00 AM ISM manufacturing report and on Apple and Palantir after the close. Behind that sits a crowded week: a packed week of earnings, midterm elections, and a key jobs report.

Market setup

S&P 500 futures	+0.46%
Nasdaq 100 futures	+0.77%
Dow futures	+0.51%
Russell 2000 futures	+0.68%
10-year Treasury yield	4.93% (-6 bp)
WTI crude (falling as Iran–Qatar talks continue)	$100.62 (-3.4%)
Bitcoin (recovering after weekend Binance security event)	~$79,000
Gold	$3,912 (+0.34%)

Key levels (dealer gamma)

SPY (spot ~761)	Call wall 770 (then 800) · Put wall 755 (then 750)
QQQ (spot ~697)	Call wall 720 (then 800) · Put wall 695 (then 680)

Call walls mark strikes where dealer positioning may slow a rally. Put walls mark strikes where dealer hedging may cushion a dip. These levels come from several public estimates, and some are a few days old. Both SPY and QQQ are trading below every gamma flip, with net 40-day gamma deeply negative , which can make moves bigger in either direction. They are positioning estimates, not guarantees.

Today's market calendar (ET)

9:45 AM	US Mfg PMI · prior 55.9
10:00 AM	ISM Mfg PMI · fc 54.5 (prior 54.5)
10:00 AM	Construction Spending · fc 0.4% (prior 0.9%)
After 4:00 PM	Apple, Palantir earnings
5:00 PM	Apple & Palantir calls

Notable earnings

Already reported: We had no confirmed results from this morning's slate at press time.

Still ahead before the open: Consensus EPS estimates: Check Point Software · CHKP · 2.48 ; Estee Lauder · EL · 0.51 ; IDEXX Labs · IDXX · 3.72 ; Marriott · MAR · 2.85 ; Public Service · PEG · 1.19 ; Tempus AI · TEM · -0.09 . Some of these may hit the wire before you read this.

After the close: Apple ±4.3%: options expiring Nov. 4 implied a move of about 4.3% , and Wall Street expects Apple to report earnings per share (EPS) of $1.99 . This is its first under John Ternus as chief executive. Palantir ±13.3%: the options market is pricing in about a 13.3% move in either direction . Palantir forecasts $2.16 billion in Q3 revenue , and the EPS consensus is $0.41.

Congress corner

• Rep. David Taylor: Buy LRCX, $1K–$15K, traded Oct 15, 2026 (reported Oct 29)
• Rep. David Taylor: Buy T and Buy PLD, $1K–$15K each, traded Oct 15, 2026
• Rep. David Taylor: Sell MPC and Sell V, $1K–$15K each, traded Oct 15, 2026
• Rep. Rick Larsen: Buy WSM, $1K–$15K, traded Oct 8, 2026; Sell HD and Sell FDX, $1K–$15K each, same date

These are delayed disclosures, not real-time trades. Congress members have 45 days to report trades after they occur, so there may be a lag between when a trade happens and when it appears .

Social-media trends

Retail chatter is focused on the beaten-down AI and chip names that also drove Friday's bearish options flow. Intel is still a hot topic after the stock plunged 24% over the week after the chipmaker issued a weak Q4 forecast. SPCX is moving overnight on reports that Musk revived TSMC Terafab talks. Even so, retail sentiment for SPCX slipped to 'bearish' from 'extremely bullish' levels a week ago . Palantir is near the top of trending lists ahead of tonight's report. Crypto-linked names are also back in focus: $COIN and $MARA stabilize pre-market as Bitcoin recovers toward $79,000 .

What matters today

1. AI Sell-Off Meets a Rebound Bid. On Friday, the S&P 500 lost 140.32 points, or 1.82%, to 7,580.07 and the Nasdaq Composite lost 747.73 points, or 2.86%, to 25,437.00 . Intel shares plunged 28.6% . In our sector data, XLK was the worst sector at -4.89%. XLE (+1.91%), XLP (+1.41%) and XLU (+0.67%) led, as money rotated into defensive sectors. This morning, Nasdaq-100 contracts are up 0.8% after the index briefly entered a correction . In premarket, Micron rose about 2.7%, SanDisk gained over 3%, and SK Hynix climbed nearly 5% . Trading impact: chip and mega-cap tech will show whether today's bounce holds after Friday's losses.
2. Options Flow Still Leans Bearish on Semis. Market tide shows net call premium at -$792.7M and net put premium at +$151.8M. The biggest drags were NVDA (-$100.1M), SNDK (-$85.0M), SPCX (-$80.2M), QQQ (-$78.5M), INTC (-$74.5M) and MU (-$71.5M). The few positive names included SPY (+$24.2M), MRVL (+$22.6M) and IWM (+$18.6M). Dealer gamma positioning data is unavailable today. Trading impact: option flows in the same chip names now bouncing premarket are still bearish, so a hesitant rebound is possible.
3. Apple and Palantir Report After the Close. Apple reports its first earnings under CEO John Ternus . Analysts expect EPS of $1.98 on revenue of $113.27 billion , and Apple was the only Magnificent Seven stock to fall in premarket trading ahead of its results . Palantir is expected to report an EPS of $0.41 on revenue of $2.18 billion , and ON Semiconductor and Vertex also report tonight. Trading impact: after-hours moves in AAPL and PLTR will set the tone for big tech going into AMD's report on Tuesday.
4. Oil Drops on Iran Talks Ahead of the Midterms. Brent crude oil futures declined by $3.68, or 3.2%, to $109.75 per barrel early today, after Iranian and Qatari officials held a third straight day of talks aimed at pushing for a deal to end the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran . Brent remains approximately a $47 rise over the past year . One analyst warned that tougher rhetoric could push Brent toward $120 after the midterm elections , which are on Tuesday. Trading impact: energy led Friday's session, so lower crude could weigh on XLE while easing inflation worries for the broader market.
5. ISM Data Starts a Week Focused on a December Rate Hike. The S&P Global Manufacturing PMI comes out at 9:45 AM ET (prior 55.9). ISM Manufacturing follows at 10:00 AM ET (forecast 54.5, prior 54.5), alongside Construction Spending (forecast 0.4%, prior 0.9%). The Federal Reserve held its benchmark rate at 3.75–4.00% on 28 October but two of its voters dissented in favour of a rise . Prediction markets now price about a 70% chance of a quarter-point rise at the 8–9 December meeting . Friday's payrolls report is forecast at 55K jobs (prior 29K) with unemployment at 4.2%. Trading impact: a strong ISM reading could raise hike odds and push yields higher, which has been pressuring growth stocks.

Options flow

NVDA: the largest single drag on the options tide in the prior session, as tech (XLK) finished last among sectors.	-$100.1M net
SNDK: memory and storage names had the second-heaviest negative premium on the board.	-$85.0M net
SPCX: the third-largest net outflow, putting it ahead of both index ETFs in the tide.	-$80.2M net
QQQ: Nasdaq-100 premium leaned negative, while SPY and IWM both drew positive net premium.	-$78.5M net
INTC / MU: semis rounded out the negative leaders (INTC -$74.5M, MU -$71.5M), with MRVL a positive outlier at +$22.6M.	-$146.0M combined
Contract detail: strike, expiry and ask/bid-side data for individual trades is unavailable today. Figures above are net premium by ticker.	Ticker-level only

Alertsify is copy trading software for options and stocks, not an RIA or broker-dealer. This post is for information only and is not investment advice.