Closing Summary

U.S. equities closed sharply lower on Friday, October 30, as a fresh wave of technology earnings reignited worries that artificial-intelligence capital spending is outpacing returns. Intel's guidance and Amazon's cash-flow and capex signals hit semiconductors and cloud-exposed names hardest, while defensive corners of the market absorbed the rotation. The Nasdaq Composite posted its worst monthly loss since March 2025, and the semiconductor complex extended its slide into bear-market territory.

Energy, consumer staples and utilities outperformed as investors sought havens, and Treasury yields eased on the risk-off move. Volatility ticked higher but remained contained. The week's macro backdrop — a split-vote Fed hold and still-elevated inflation — keeps the December policy path in focus. Looking ahead, the October jobs report on November 6, October CPI in mid-November, and October PCE inflation on November 25 will set the stage for the Federal Reserve's December 8-9 meeting, where new economic projections are scheduled. Earnings season continues to drive stock-specific volatility.

Indexes

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.09%

The S&P 500 Index fell 1.82%

The Nasdaq Composite declined 2.86%

At the 4:00 p.m. ET close: the S&P 500 settled at 7,580.07 (-140.32 points), the Dow at 51,770.31 (-572.25 points) and the Nasdaq Composite at 25,437.00 (-747.73 points). The VIX rose 1.71% to 17.2. Turnover ran above the prior session, with S&P 500-index volume at roughly 6.15 billion shares versus 5.83 billion the day before; SPY and QQQ volumes were 77.1 million and 85.2 million shares respectively, confirming heavier selling pressure into the close.

Technical levels — after breaking below the prior close of 7,720.39, the S&P 500 now sits under its 50-day moving average near 7,697. Near-term support: 7,527 (Friday's intraday low), then the 7,500 psychological level; a deeper test targets 7,450. Resistance: 7,637 (Friday's high), 7,697 (50-day average) and 7,720 (prior close). The Dow holds support at 51,563 (session low) and 51,500, with resistance at 52,211 (50-day) and 52,383 (Friday's high). The Nasdaq Composite, the weakest of the three, finds support at 25,177 (session low) and the 25,000 round number, while resistance stacks up at 25,672 (session high), 26,184 (prior close) and 26,574 (50-day average). A close below session lows would open the door to further downside; reclaiming the 50-day averages is needed to neutralize the selloff.

Stock & Sector Performance

Leaders — defensive and cyclical havens:

• Energy (XLE) +1.91%
• Consumer Staples (XLP) +1.41%
• Health Care (XLV) +0.45%
• Utilities (XLU) +0.67%
• Materials (XLB) +0.40%
• Real Estate (XLRE) +0.26%

Laggards — rate-sensitive and AI-exposed growth:

• Technology (XLK) -4.89% — worst sector by a wide margin
• Industrials (XLI) -1.60%
• Communication Services (XLC) -1.29%
• Financials (XLF) -0.76%
• Consumer Discretionary (XLY) -0.71%

Money rotated out of the AI trade and into havens: the six defensive/cyclical leaders all finished green while every growth-oriented sector closed in the red. The iShares Semiconductor ETF dropped about 8% and remains roughly 27% below its earlier peak; neocloud-exposed funds have given back about 42% from all-time highs.

Magnificent Seven were uniformly in the red, with semiconductors and cloud names underperforming: NVDA -4.22%, MSFT -1.55%, META -1.53%, GOOGL -1.40%, AMZN -1.41%, AAPL -1.23%, TSLA -0.87%.

Major Company News

Intel was the single most market-moving story of the session. After its third-quarter report, the company forecast fourth-quarter sales below the third-quarter level, and the shares closed down about 29% — their worst day in decades — as investors repriced the foundry turnaround and AI-chip competitive position. Amazon also disappointed after hours on Thursday with weak third-quarter cash flow and signals of another step-up in capital expenditure next year; the stock extended losses into Friday's session. Reddit slid roughly 19.5% after warning that daily active unique visitors could fall by a low double-digit percentage in the fourth quarter and guiding revenue below analyst estimates. SanDisk dropped about 15% despite reporting earnings, and AMD fell roughly 11% as the semiconductor weakness broadened. No single dominant company story lifted the tape; Friday's moves were driven by earnings-driven de-rating across the AI supply chain.