S&P 500 Rises 0.70% on Oct 26, 2026 as Anthropic IPO Lifts Tech

The S&P 500 rose 0.70% to 7,676.77 on Monday, October 26, 2026, as Anthropic's public IPO filing revived the AI trade and lifted tech. The Nasdaq Composite gained 0.82% and the Dow 0.28%, while US-listed Brazilian stocks plunged.

Data as of the US close, 20:00 UTC, October 26, 2026 (VIX 20:15 UTC; Treasury par yields 19:30 UTC).

Key takeaways

• The S&P 500 rose 53.09 points (+0.70%) to 7,676.77 and the Nasdaq Composite 214.04 points (+0.82%) to 26,169.38, according to Yahoo Finance and Reuters.
• The Dow added 146.42 points (+0.28%) to 52,361.58, and the Russell 2000 rose 10.53 points (+0.38%) to 2,786.42, per Yahoo Finance.
• Technology was the best of the 11 S&P 500 sectors, up 1.5%, and the Philadelphia semiconductor index gained 2.8%, Reuters reported. Tesla rose 5.2% after a Barclays upgrade.
• The VIX fell 1.06 points (−5.45%) to 18.39. The 10-year Treasury par yield held at 5.000% and the 2-year eased to 4.680%, according to the US Treasury.
• US-listed Brazilian shares slumped: XP fell 48.36% and Itaú Unibanco 20.37%, per Yahoo Finance's top-losers list, which tied the selloff to the Brazilian election result.

Session recap

Wall Street opened the week on the front foot after two straight weekly losses for the S&P 500 and Nasdaq. Chip and AI infrastructure stocks led, while Meta lagged after announcing a large equity raise. For the global picture, see Asian and global markets today. Our October 23 US stocks brief covers Friday's oil-driven selloff that set up the rebound.

Changes are calculated from October 23 closes (S&P 500 7,623.68; Nasdaq 25,955.34; Dow 52,215.16; VIX 19.45; par yields 4.69% and 5.00%). Treasury publishes par yields to two decimals. Reuters rounded the Nasdaq gain to 0.83%.

Breadth was positive but not broad. Advancing issues outnumbered decliners 1.36-to-1 on the NYSE and 1.09-to-1 on Nasdaq, Reuters reported. The Nasdaq Composite logged 82 new highs against 349 new lows, and 16.7 billion shares changed hands, below the 20-session average of 17.2 billion.

What drove it

Anthropic's IPO filing revives the AI trade

Anthropic's S-1 prospectus, made public on Monday, shows $16.3 billion in revenue for the first half of 2026 and a planned Nasdaq listing under the ticker ANT, according to the SEC filing and Fortune. Fortune reported a first-half net loss of $80.7 billion, most of it a non-cash accounting charge. Price range and share count have not been set. Details are in our report on Anthropic's S-1 and planned ANT listing.

The filing lifted companies that supply AI data centers. Reuters said Lumentum and Coherent were among the biggest gainers, and CoreWeave erased earlier losses. "Today's all about the Anthropic release, so we're back on a little bit of an optimistic tilt," JP Powers, chief investment officer at RWA Wealth Partners, told Reuters. He warned of "a little bit of a whipsaw if things aren't all moving in the same direction."

Tesla upgrade and Meta's equity raise

Tesla rose 5.2% to its highest close in more than three months after Barclays raised its rating to "overweight" from "equal-weight", Reuters reported. Barclays analyst Dan Levy wrote that the stock "offers attractive risk/reward", according to Yahoo Finance. Meta fell 1.9% after saying it plans to raise up to $95 billion in equity to fund AI data centers and other infrastructure, per Reuters.

Brazilian stocks plunge

The heaviest losses were in US-listed Brazilian companies. Yahoo Finance reported that the iShares MSCI Brazil ETF fell as much as 26% before the open and linked the move to Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's reelection in Sunday's runoff. InvestingLive reported the Bovespa down 13.5%. Analysis: the losses stayed concentrated in Brazil-linked names and did not stop the main US indexes from rising.

Oil, yields and volatility

December WTI crude fell $2.02 to $101.25 a barrel at the close, Yahoo Finance quotes showed. Yahoo Finance said oil eased after Saudi Arabia's defense minister visited Tehran, following last week's Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia. Gold rose $23.10 to $4,031.00. Treasury yields barely moved before the Fed meeting. Analysis: the 5.45% drop in the VIX shows options traders paid less for protection after Friday's selloff, though a reading near 18 still points to some caution.

Positioning before a heavy week

Goldman Sachs' Ben Snider said retail trading activity has fallen, and that "weak consumer sentiment and elevated energy prices likely explain most of the reduction", according to Yahoo Finance. RBC's Lori Calvasina said she remains on the sidelines with tech after cutting the sector to market weight earlier this month.

Political & policy watch

• Federal Reserve. The FOMC begins a two-day meeting on Tuesday. CME FedWatch put the chance of a rate hike on Wednesday at 12.7%, Reuters reported. Former Fed Vice Chair Alan Blinder expects a "hawkish pause", according to Yahoo Finance. Background: the Fed's October rate-hike debate.
• Middle East. Yahoo Finance tied Monday's oil decline to Saudi-Iranian contacts after last week's Houthi strikes. Officials have not confirmed any outcome of the talks.
• Brazil. Investors are reassessing Brazilian assets after the runoff, per Yahoo Finance. The new government's economic team and fiscal plans have not been detailed in the sources reviewed.
• Regulation. Anthropic's prospectus warns that an "evolving and uncertain regulatory and political environment" could affect its business, Yahoo Finance reported.
• US midterms. The November 3 elections will decide control of Congress, Reuters noted.

What to watch next

• Tuesday, October 27: FOMC meeting begins. Israel holds a general election, per i24 News.
• Wednesday, October 28, 18:00 UTC (2:00 p.m. ET): FOMC rate decision, then the Fed chair's press conference. Alphabet and Microsoft report after the close, per Yahoo Finance.
• Thursday, October 29, 12:30 UTC (8:30 a.m. ET): advance Q3 GDP and September personal income and outlays, including PCE inflation, from the BEA.
• This week: more than a third of S&P 500 companies report, including Amazon, according to Reuters.
• Tuesday, November 3: US midterm elections.

Risk checklist for readers

• IPO headlines can move whole sectors. A single large filing can shift sentiment across suppliers and peers before any shares trade.
• Watch breadth, not just the headline. On Monday, Nasdaq new lows far outnumbered new highs even as the index rose.
• Event risk is clustered. The Fed decision, big-tech earnings, GDP and PCE land within four days.
• Foreign political risk reaches US listings. ADRs and country ETFs trade in New York but react to elections abroad, often with large gaps.
• Dilution matters. Large equity raises, such as Meta's planned offering, increase share count and can weigh on a stock.
• Check timestamps. Intraday, settlement and closing figures differ; confirm with official sources such as the Treasury and exchanges.

This article is for information only and is not investment advice.