Wall Street ended the last trading day of October with a steep sell-off Friday. A wave of disappointing tech earnings reignited fears about the massive sums Big Tech is spending on artificial intelligence, just days before Americans head to the polls.
The S&P 500 fell about 140 points, or 1.8%, to close near 7,580. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped roughly 572 points, or 1.1%, to about 51,770. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite was hit hardest, sinking nearly 748 points, or 2.9%, to around 25,437. During intraday trading, the Nasdaq had reached a high of nearly 25,673.
It was the worst day for both the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 since June.
Intel led the losses. The chipmaker’s stock plunged roughly 30% after its outlook fell short of Wall Street’s expectations, marking its worst day since 1974. The losses spread across the semiconductor sector, and the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index fell more than 7%.
Amazon shares slipped about 2% after the company signaled even heavier capital spending. The drop came one day after Alphabet suffered its worst day in more than two decades following a rare earnings miss.
Reddit, Pinterest and Roblox also fell sharply after releasing third-quarter results.
The S&P 500’s technology sector dropped nearly 5% on the day. Wall Street’s fear gauge, the CBOE Volatility Index, spiked as high as 23.93 in the afternoon before settling just below 20.
Mohamed El-Erian, who chaired former President Obama’s Global Development Council, called Friday an “ugly” day for the market. He noted, however, that the sell-off had not yet led investors to rethink the broader tech-driven growth outlook.
For the week, the S&P 500 lost about 0.6%, the Nasdaq fell 2% and the Dow slipped about 0.9%.
October was rough for tech investors. The Nasdaq fell about 5.3% for the month, its worst monthly performance since March 2025. The S&P 500 slipped about 1%, while the Dow managed to finish the month in positive territory.
The sell-off comes just days before the Nov. 3 midterm elections, as Republicans fight to hold on to control of Congress for the remainder of President Trump’s second term.
Investors have spent much of the year betting heavily on AI-related companies. The latest round of earnings suggests that Wall Street is growing impatient for those huge investments to pay off.
The weekend gives investors a brief pause before a pivotal stretch. Markets will be watching closely for election results next week, along with any further fallout from the tech sector.
