US stocks tumbled on Friday, with the Nasdaq 7.8% below its October 6 closing high, a peak that has passed. Disappointing quarterly results from Intel and Amazon released late Thursday preceded the technology sell-off.
Technology shares led Friday’s market decline
All three major US stock indexes fell on Friday, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq recorded the steepest decline. Its one-day percentage drop was the largest since June 5. The sell-off followed disappointing quarterly results from Intel and Amazon, released late Thursday. Those results preceded the technology rout, which extended beyond the companies themselves as chip stocks and other technology-related shares fell.¹²³
The S&P 500 lost 139.30 points, or 1.80%, to close at 7,580.21. The Nasdaq Composite fell 747.73 points, or 2.84%, to 25,440.68. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 571.98 points, or 1.09%, to 51,770.58. Each benchmark ended the session lower, with the Nasdaq’s percentage decline exceeding the losses in the broader S&P 500 and the Dow.¹²³
The S&P 500 and Nasdaq finished the month with losses, while the Dow exited October with a gain. The Nasdaq had fallen 7.8% from its all-time closing high, reached on October 6. That peak date was already in the past, and the index’s latest drop added to the distance from it. The monthly comparison also showed that the three major indexes did not share the same result across October, despite falling together on Friday.¹²³
The S&P 500 lost 139.30 points, or 1.80%, to close at 7,580.21.
Chip losses spread across technology sectors
Chip stocks veered sharply lower, pushing the Philadelphia SE Semiconductor Index into a monthly loss. The broader chips index fell 7.2% and ended the month down more than 15%. Individual semiconductor shares recorded steep declines: Nvidia fell 4.2%, while AMD slid 10.9%. The index’s monthly result put the day’s slide in a wider context: chip stocks had not merely fallen during Friday’s session, but had also accumulated a loss over the month.¹²³
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Read More →The pressure reached companies that make servers as well as chip producers. Dell fell 10.8%, and HP dropped 9.6%. The S&P 500 technology sector recorded its largest monthly percentage loss since March 2025. Communication services also suffered its biggest monthly drop since April 2022. Together, those sector declines show that the monthly weakness extended beyond the semiconductor index, affecting other parts of the technology and communications market.¹²³
Decliners outnumbered advancers on both the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq. On the NYSE, declining issues outnumbered rising issues by a 1.8-to-1 ratio; there were 169 new highs and 377 new lows. Nasdaq had 1,196 stocks rise and 3,622 fall, a 3.03-to-1 ratio of declining issues to advancers. The S&P 500 recorded 43 new 52-week highs and five new lows; the Nasdaq Composite had 70 new highs and 355 new lows.¹²³
Earnings results and company forecasts diverged
Third-quarter earnings season had passed the halfway point, with 299 S&P 500 companies having reported. Of those, 82% beat consensus expectations, according to LSEG data. Analysts expected S&P 500 third-quarter earnings growth of 31.6% year on year, per LSEG. The broad earnings figures stood alongside the weaker results from Intel and Amazon that preceded Friday’s technology sell-off, showing different signals across company results and the market’s response to particular firms.¹²
Exxon Mobil and Chevron both beat quarterly profit expectations. Their stronger results came as energy supply disruptions arising from the US-Israeli war with Iran and Russia’s war in Ukraine drove soaring profit margins. The companies’ shares also rose during the session: Exxon Mobil gained 2.2%, and Chevron gained 2.8%. The gains contrasted with the declines across technology shares and the three major stock indexes, though both oil companies’ profits and share prices moved higher.¹²³
These company-specific developments supplied distinct reasons for declines in separate parts of the market: Starbucks cited a business divestiture, while the earlier technology pressure followed disappointing quarterly results.¹²³
Starbucks fell 1.8% after forecasting an annual revenue decline. The coffee chain linked the forecast to its divestiture of its Chinese business. The share-price decline followed the company’s outlook, while the technology sell-off had followed quarterly results from Intel and Amazon. These company-specific developments supplied distinct reasons for declines in separate parts of the market: Starbucks cited a business divestiture, while the earlier technology pressure followed disappointing quarterly results.¹²³
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Read More →Market breadth and trading volume show the session’s scale
Cryptocurrency-related firms Coinbase, Strategy and Robinhood fell between 7.2% and 10.6%. Their declines followed reports that hackers stole $6.3bn from Binance, described as the world’s biggest cryptocurrency exchange. The reported theft coincided with losses among the three listed firms, adding another source of pressure beyond the technology and semiconductor declines. The available session figures place those company moves alongside the broader pattern of more falling stocks than rising ones.¹³
Trading volume on US exchanges reached 19.87 billion shares. The comparison average for a full session over the previous 20 trading days was 17.26 billion shares. That placed Friday’s volume above the recent full-session average as the major indexes fell and declining shares outnumbered advancers on both the NYSE and Nasdaq. The closing figures and breadth counts provide the recorded measures of the session; the ledger gives no later application window or next date.¹²³
Tech Jobs Face a Choppier Market
If you are weighing a role in semiconductors or server hardware, this month's slide is a signal to negotiate with more caution. Chip stocks fell more than 15% in October, and server makers Dell and HP dropped roughly 10% in a single session. That means employers in those segments may be under pressure to cut costs, so ask for a higher base salary rather than stock-heavy compensation, which could lose value quickly.¹³
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For anyone in technology broadly, the S&P 500 tech sector posted its largest monthly loss since March 2025, and communication services had its worst month since April 2022. That suggests hiring budgets in those areas may tighten. Meanwhile, energy companies Exxon Mobil and Chevron beat profit expectations and saw their shares rise, so roles tied to oil and gas supply chains may offer more stability right now.¹³
Sources
- theguardian.com — https://www.theguardian.com/business/live/2026/oct/30/uk-house-price-growth-crypto-industry-6bn-binance-hack-eurozone-france-gdp-latest-news-updates
- newsbreak.com — https://www.newsbreak.com/reuters-555486/4975945998540-wall-street-slides-as-ai-cash-burn-worries-spark-tech-selloff
- devdiscourse.com — https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/international/3999819-us-stocks-wall-street-closes-sharply-lower-as-ai-cash-burn-fears-spark-techselloff
Written by Career Ahead AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify key facts. Report errors to support@careeraheadonline.com
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