Pre-Markets Remain Spooked by AI Investment Capacity

Friday, October 23rd, 2026

Pre-market futures are down again this morning, after the Dow clawed back into the green by yesterday’s close but the tech-heavy (read: AI-invested) Nasdaq fell nearly -700 points (-2.6%). The Dow is now taking the biggest tumble, -377 points, while the Nasdaq is -34 points, the S&P 500 -22 points and the small-cap Russell 2000 -15 points. When Meta Platforms META reported earlier this week, they raised questions about AI infrastructure buildout viability, which spooked markets (here in Halloween season).

The doubt surrounding AI infrastructure investment is palpable, and now affecting the nuts-and-bolts companies listed on the Dow 30 — such as Caterpillar CAT, which is currently -4.9% in today’s pre-market. (The heavy equipment manufacturer reports Q3 earnings next Thursday.) Conversely, this has helped ease bond yields, which are down notably from their multi-decade highs a couple weeks ago. The 10-year is below +5% for the first time in a month.

Oil prices remain sticky, with the U.S. and Israel drawing up plans to attack facilities in Iran reportedly aimed at developing nuclear weaponry. We’ve seen over the past eight months (recall: the war was supposed to last 2-4 weeks) that retaliation from Iran routinely involves shuttering global oil supply. In anticipation of this new round of strikes (and the ongoing bombings at Saudi airport by Iran-backed Houthi rebels), the WTI spot oil price is back up over $100 per barrel (/bbl) while Brent crude is back to early May highs: $115/bbl.
 

Q3 Earnings at a Glance: AXP, SLB

We see two notable earnings beats on earnings in this morning’s Q3 reports. Starting with American Express AXP, earnings of $4.68 per share outpaced the Zacks consensus of $4.47 by +4.7%; it also easily surpasses the year-ago $4.14 per share reported. Revenues of $20.06 billion, on the other hand, missed expectations by -0.74%. Shares are off -12% year to date, and down another -1.9% in today’s pre-market. For more on AXP’s earnings, click here.

Oilfield management company SLB Corp. SLB, formerly known as Schlumberger, outpaced estimates by 2 cents to $0.64 per share on revenues of $9.45 billion, which beat the Zacks consensus by +1.72%. Shares are up +2% on the news ahead of the bell this morning, adding to the company’s +29% gains year to date. For more on SLB’s earnings, click here.
 

What to Expect from the Stock Market Today

Normally, in-session Friday trading does not need to deal with many economic metrics, but after the opening bell today we’ll see flash U.S. PMI on Manufacturing and Services for October. Estimates for both are expected to tick down month over month to 55.3 and 58, respectively, but still above the 50-level which determines growth from loss.

Also, the final University of Michigan Consumer Survey for October is expected to dip to 46.3 from the previous print of 48.1. Both of these numbers are below the 50-level, demonstrating the negative sentiment regarding the American consumer’s outlook from earlier this month.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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