Daily Market Report – October 20, 2026

Markets

The S&P 500 (SPX) gained 0.37 percent to 7,719 points. The Nasdaq 100 (NDX) rose by 0.13 percent to 29,568 points, while the Dow Jones (DJI) increased by 0.96 percent to 52,463 points. In Europe, the Euro Stoxx 50 (SX5E) fell by 0.38 percent to 6,122 points. Following the weak stock market debut of a South Korean data center specialist, the Nikkei 225 (NI225) dropped by 1.30 percent to 64,075 points. Brent crude oil (UKOIL) decreased by 0.77 percent to $108.71 per barrel.

CompanySpaceX (SPCX) came into focus ahead of the release of its quarterly results. Attention was on the business of satellite connections and rocket launches. SK Hynix (000660) came under pressure after the weak stock market debut of the South Korean data center builder Elice and due to new doubts about valuations in the AI sector. ASML (ASML) was also affected by the reassessment of investments in AI infrastructure. Palantir (PLTR) was in the spotlight due to the review of its inclusion in a nine billion dollar Sharia-compliant fund.

Salesforce (CRM) agreed to acquire the marketing platform Braze for approximately 5.7 billion dollars. Investors reacted critically to the costs of further expansion in the AI business. Braze (BRZE) benefited as an acquisition target from the transaction. Alphabet (GOOGL) reported that it had largely resolved a disruption of its European cloud services. This had temporarily affected several banks and online services.

Volkswagen (VOW3) recalled more than 70,000 electric cars worldwide due to faulty batteries. BMW (BMW) closed its severance program after several thousand employees applied for an exit. Due to higher British gambling taxes, Flutter Entertainment (FLUT) plans to cut more than 1,000 jobs in the United Kingdom and Ireland.

Due to the weaker industry environment, National Australia Bank (NAB) announced the reduction of 2,500 positions, which is about 6 percent of the workforce. NatWest (NWG) tightened the requirements for office attendance for approximately 30,000 employees. An independent investigation report implicated Nidec (6594). According to the report, the founder had obstructed an examination of accounting issues in 2017 and did not inform the board of directors.

Macroeconomics

According to the White House, the US government is facing a lawsuit against tariffs of 50 percent on various Canadian goods. This increases the trade policy risks for North American supply chains. According to the ECB, former ECB President Mario Draghi called for a greater European role in ending the Ukraine war and referred to its significance for Europe's foreign economic relations. The IMF states that high debt levels and yields are coming more into focus in international financial policy, while concerns about China are losing weight.

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*Created on 10/20/2026 / 12:35 PM (ET)*