Market-moving news for Tuesday, November 3, 2026

What happened

The Reserve Bank of Australia raised its cash rate for the fifth time in 2026, from 4.60% to 4.85% — the highest level since 2008. Following the announcement the Australian dollar weakened against the U.S. dollar, extending its losing streak to a third consecutive session.

What happened

The People's Bank of China said Tuesday morning it will raise the foreign-exchange reserve requirement ratio for financial institutions by 2 percentage points, to 6%, effective November 15, aiming to improve management of FX liquidity. The yuan weakened against the dollar after the announcement, and the decision landed while oil markets and Asian equities stayed cautious over Middle East developments and the U.S. midterm elections.

What happened

The U.S. carried out limited strikes on Iran's Qeshm Island on Monday, first reported by the Wall Street Journal citing U.S. officials and confirmed by CNN with three officials. The strikes were described as defensive — aimed at preventing Iran from threatening commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz — and part of a series of small-scale, unpublicized strikes Washington has conducted for weeks without announcing them. In one incident Monday, the IRGC fired a surface-to-air missile at a U.S. fighter jet, which fired back in self-defense; in another, U.S. forces intercepted an IRGC missile originating from Qeshm that was targeting commercial shipping. Iranian state media reported several explosions on the island, and the IRGC claimed it shot down two U.S. reconnaissance UAVs south of Qeshm plus an MQ-9 series UAV east of the strait. Qeshm sits at the mouth of the Strait of Hormuz and hosts a large underground missile site, a naval base, and a major desalination plant.

What happened

Meta Platforms is reportedly considering raising $20 billion through a multi-currency bond issuance to finance its AI infrastructure buildout, according to reporting surfaced Monday. The disclosure came as Oracle offered $10 billion in debt alongside an equivalent stock sale and Anthropic filed Q3 results showing an 1,127% revenue surge alongside $895.4B in compute commitments. The Meta report arrived alongside CNBC Fast Money analysis that free cash flow — not valuation — is now the key differentiator among AI spenders, with Microsoft and Nvidia free-cash-flow positive while Alphabet, Meta and Amazon are increasingly negative. Meta's shares fell 1.34% Monday to $606.73.