Financial News October 24, 2026: Oil Shock Hits Stocks as Moody’s Spares France

Wall Street ended a volatile week lower as Brent crude settled above $116, consumer confidence remained near a record low and investors questioned the financing behind the artificial-intelligence boom. After markets closed, Moody’s kept France’s sovereign rating unchanged, while bitcoin and ether weakened in Saturday trading.

U.S., European, bond, currency and commodity figures in this report are completed Friday results. Cryptocurrency prices were current as of approximately 3 p.m. Eastern on Saturday, October 24.

Financial markets closed the week caught between resilient economic growth and mounting pressure from energy prices, borrowing costs and corporate investment.

Brent crude reached its highest settlement in nearly six months after attacks in Saudi Arabia intensified concern about Middle Eastern exports. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell more than 650 points Friday, and the S&P 500 recorded a second consecutive weekly decline.

Technology shares stabilized after Thursday’s severe selloff, but the pause did not resolve Wall Street’s central question: can the largest technology companies generate enough revenue to justify hundreds of billions of dollars in artificial-intelligence infrastructure?

Wall Street Ends Friday Lower

The S&P 500 fell 39.75 points, or 0.52%, to 7,623.68 Friday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 652.82 points, or 1.23%, to 52,215.16. The Nasdaq Composite lost 53.52 points, or 0.21%, to 25,955.34, while the Russell 2000 declined 0.3% to 2,775.90.

For the week, the S&P 500 fell 0.5% and the Nasdaq lost 0.7%. The Dow gained 0.4%, and the Russell 2000 rose 2%. Those results showed that the week’s damage was concentrated in large technology and AI-linked companies rather than distributed evenly across the market.

The energy sector reached a record high Friday as oil climbed. Semiconductors and the broader technology sector each gained about 0.4%, recovering only a small portion of Thursday’s losses.

Reuters reported Friday’s completed global-market results, while the Associated Press published the official U.S. index closes.

Oil Settles Above $116 as Supply Risk Grows

Brent crude settled at $116.72 per barrel, up about 3.1% Friday and at its highest closing level since April 29. West Texas Intermediate finished at $103.27.

Houthi attacks on Saudi energy infrastructure raised concern about supplies from the world’s largest crude exporter. Saudi Aramco ordered employees to evacuate its headquarters in Dhahran. Authorities in the United Arab Emirates also reported an oil spill from an unidentified tanker off Umm Al Quwain.

The market is also confronting reduced Libyan production after a pipeline valve serving the Hamada and Tahara fields was closed. Germany’s oil-stockpiling agency offered crude and refined products from strategic reserves as European governments tried to contain the effect of expensive fuel.

The oil shock reaches far beyond energy portfolios. Higher crude prices raise transportation and manufacturing costs, squeeze household budgets and make it more difficult for central banks to reduce interest rates. Reuters detailed Friday’s oil-market developments.

Consumer Confidence Nears a Record Low

The University of Michigan’s final Consumer Sentiment Index slipped to 48.0 in October from 48.1 in September. The reading was near the lowest level in the survey’s 74-year history.

Short- and long-term inflation expectations increased. Consumers continued to report frustration with food, housing, transportation and energy expenses even though employment and business activity remained comparatively strong.

The contrast is important. S&P Global’s preliminary U.S. Composite Purchasing Managers’ Index remained firmly expansionary at 57.6, while new orders reached their highest level since March 2022. Businesses are growing, but many households do not believe the gains are improving their financial position.

Reuters reported the completed October consumer-sentiment results.

AI Spending Faces a Pivotal Earnings Test

Technology shares stabilized Friday after the Nasdaq’s 2.6% plunge Thursday, but concern about AI financing remained unresolved.

Meta Platforms unsettled investors by outlining enormous future infrastructure requirements and proposing a new class of nonvoting stock. CoreWeave’s declining bonds and widening credit spreads added to concern that some AI projects depend too heavily on borrowed money.

Next week, approximately one-third of the S&P 500 is scheduled to report results. Alphabet, Microsoft and Amazon will be the most important tests because investors will compare their AI capital spending with cloud revenue, margins and cash generation.

A strong set of reports could restore confidence that infrastructure investment is producing sustainable returns. Weak guidance could deepen the rotation away from chipmakers, data-center operators and other companies valued on aggressive AI-growth assumptions. Reuters previewed the coming week’s AI and central-bank tests.

American Express Cuts 3,500 Jobs

American Express shares fell 3.7% Friday even though the company raised its full-year adjusted earnings forecast to $17.60–$17.90 per share.

The card company announced plans to eliminate approximately 5% of its global workforce, or about 3,500 jobs. Billed business increased 8% to $454 billion, and travel and entertainment spending rose 10%, showing that affluent customers continued to spend.

Revenue grew 9% to $20.1 billion, while adjusted earnings of $4.68 per share exceeded Wall Street forecasts. The stock’s decline reflected concern about expenses and restructuring rather than an immediate collapse in cardholder activity. Reuters reported the company’s results and workforce reduction.

SpaceX Wireless Plans Shake Telecom Stocks

AT&T and T-Mobile each fell sharply Friday, while Verizon also declined, after a report that SpaceX was seeking thousands of cell sites for a potential nationwide wireless network.

Cell-tower companies benefited from the same development. Crown Castle jumped approximately 10%, and American Tower gained nearly 4%, as investors anticipated new leasing demand.

The move demonstrated how quickly SpaceX’s expansion beyond rockets and satellite broadband could reshape established industries. A fourth national wireless competitor could pressure pricing for the largest carriers while generating new revenue for infrastructure owners.

Treasury Yield Ends Below 5% Before Fed Meeting

The 10-year Treasury yield ended Friday near 4.99%. It rose during the session as oil strengthened, but finished about 11 basis points lower for the week after Thursday’s dramatic flight into government bonds.

The Federal Reserve announces its next policy decision Wednesday, October 28. Futures indicated a 92% probability that officials will leave the federal-funds target unchanged at 3.75%–4.00%.

Markets nevertheless assigned a high probability to another increase in December. The combination of firm business activity, expensive petroleum and elevated inflation expectations gives policymakers little reason to declare victory over prices.

Moody’s Spares France a Downgrade

Moody’s kept France’s sovereign credit rating at Aa3 with a negative outlook late Friday, surprising analysts who had expected a downgrade to A1.

The decision may provide temporary relief after France’s 10-year borrowing cost reached a 24-year high and its yield premium over Germany widened to levels last seen during the euro-area debt crisis.

It does not eliminate the underlying problems. France faces social unrest, a difficult 2027 budget process, political fragmentation and a presidential election in April. Fitch and S&P already rate the country at A+, below Moody’s assessment.

Reuters reported Moody’s decision and France’s fiscal risks.

European Stocks and Currencies Finish Lower

The STOXX 600 completed Friday’s session 0.31% lower at 635.77 and lost approximately 1.4% for the week, its steepest weekly decline since early September.

Kering plunged 16.6% after Gucci sales declined, while Volvo Cars sank more than 24% following a larger-than-expected operating loss and plans for another 2,500 job cuts. L’Oréal rose 5.6% after exceeding sales forecasts.

The euro finished near $1.12 and posted a weekly loss against both the dollar and yen. France’s fiscal uncertainty and softer euro-area business surveys weighed on the common currency. The dollar index ended near 101.7.

Gold Suffers Its Worst Week Since June

Spot gold finished Friday near $4,000 per ounce after falling below that threshold during the session. U.S. gold futures settled at $4,007.90.

Bullion lost approximately 4% for the week, its steepest decline since June. Rising oil prices strengthened expectations for restrictive monetary policy, while margin calls associated with the technology selloff prompted some investors to sell metals.

Silver closed near $53.97, platinum near $1,555.84 and palladium near $1,048.31. Reuters reported Friday’s completed precious-metals results.

Bitcoin and Ethereum Slip Saturday

Bitcoin traded near $80,522 as of approximately 3 p.m. Eastern Saturday, down about 1% from its previous close. It moved between roughly $79,280 and $81,413.

Ethereum fell approximately 2.6% to $2,338, after trading between about $2,289 and $2,402.

The weekend decline suggests that crypto traders remained cautious about the same forces affecting technology shares: high interest rates, expensive energy and uncertainty about institutional risk appetite. Unlike stocks and bonds, cryptocurrency remains open during the weekend and can provide an early indication of reactions to geopolitical developments.

Financial Market Outlook

The coming week brings an unusually concentrated set of market tests:

• The Federal Reserve, Bank of Canada and Reserve Bank of New Zealand announce policy decisions Wednesday.
• The European Central Bank meets Thursday, followed by the Bank of Japan on Friday.
• Alphabet, Microsoft and Amazon report earnings and capital-spending guidance.
• The September PCE inflation report arrives Thursday.
• Investors will monitor attacks on Saudi infrastructure and shipping through Gulf and Red Sea routes.
• France must contain unrest while preparing a difficult budget and presidential election.

The market’s problem is not a lack of growth. It is that growth, oil and AI investment are colliding with inflation and financing constraints. Next week will show whether corporate profits can carry that burden without further damage to stocks, bonds or household confidence.