Nasdaq slides 2.9% as tech earnings disappoint

30. Oct 2026

(AWP Alliance News) - Stocks ended decidedly lower in New York on Friday as investors continued to sell shares in major technology companies ahead of the key US midterm election next week.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 572.25 points, 1.1%, at 51,770.31. The S&P 500 fell 140.32 points, 1.8%, to 7,580.07. The Nasdaq Composite ended down 747.73 points, 2.9%, at 25,437.00.

For the week, the DJIA lost 0.9%, the S&P fell 0.6% and the Nasdaq shed 2.0%.

"Whether it was our note that AI Boom was beginning to eat its own tail or the Great Tech Unwind chart pack we pushed out around the opening bell, the setup already looked ugly before New York really started swinging the axe. By Friday afternoon the AI bubble bears no longer needed a chart pack or a metaphor. The Nasdaq 100 was down roughly 4%, briefly pushing into correction territory from its October high, the semiconductor index was being taken apart, and what had begun as a few awkward earnings reactions had turned into the sort of late-week liquidation where traders stop discussing valuation models and start checking where the exits are," wrote strategist Stephen Innes.

"This was not the market suddenly deciding artificial intelligence is a fraud. That would be far too easy. The problem is almost the opposite. AI demand is real enough that the companies building it are spending staggering amounts of money to stay in the race, and the market has finally started asking whether the businesses financing that race can keep feeding the furnace without scorching their own cash flows," Innes added.

Amazon fell 1.4% on Friday after third quarter earnings and revenue fell short of expectations. The company maintained its 2026 capital expenditure forecast at USD220 billion.

Intel tumbled 29% after it provided a underwhelming outlook, citing a weak PC market.

SanDisk dropped 13% as it announced an eight-for-one forward stock split despite first quarter results coming in ahead of estimates. Peers Micron and Western Digital declined 5.3% and 7.4%, respectively.

Chipmakers closed lower. Nvidia fell 4.2%, AMD shed 11% and Broadcom gave back 5.5%.

Microsoft and Alphabet lost 1.6% and 1.4%, respectively, as shares continued to slide following earnings earlier in the week.

With Alphabet's Waymo, Toyota said that it will begin initial operations to test and validate an autonomous Toyota bZ4X fleet in Japan in 2027.

Deployment to the UK and other Waymo-serviced markets is planned for the following years. Toyota said the partnership "marks a major milestone in the expansion of Japan's first fully autonomous ride-hailing service using high-volume, domestically manufactured vehicles."

Toyota slipped 0.5% in New York.

Chevron on Friday reported a sharp rise in third quarter profit thanks to favourable oil prices.

The oil major said net income nearly tripled to USD10.05 billion in the three months to September 30 from USD3.61 billion a year earlier. Diluted earnings per share surged to USD5.06 from USD1.82.

Total revenue rose 36% to USD67.80 billion, from USD49.73 billion a year prior.

Chevron gained 1.7%.

A barrel of Brent fetched USD117.55 late Friday, up from USD115.95 on Thursday. West Texas Intermediate rose to USD103.37 from USD102.88.

Gold dropped to USD3,876.25 an ounce from USD4,025.65.

The yield on the 10-year US Treasury fell to 4.92% from 4.94% late Thursday. The 30-year yield was at 5.30%, up from 5.29%.

Against the dollar, the euro was at USD1.1167, down from USD1.1177 on Thursday. Sterling rose to USD1.3395 from USD1.3380. Against the yen, the dollar was at JPY157.54, down from JPY157.70.

Cryptocurrency platform Binance said Friday it was working to resolve a "complex attack" that affected around USD6.3 billion in funds, AFP reported.

Binance, the world's largest crypto exchange by daily trading volumes, said investigations had "uncovered additional points of breach".

Cryptocurrency trading platform Coinbase ended down 11%.

BTC stood at USD76,814.48 each late Friday, down 1.1% on the day. US Bitcoin treasury Strategy dropped 7.8% on Friday after it announced the depature of its chief financial officer following a worse-than-expected third quarter.

In Europe, the FTSE 100 closed up 0.1% in London. The CAC 40 ended slightly lower in Paris. The DAX 40 in Frankfurt dropped 0.9%.

In China, the Shanghai Composite Index ended down 1.4%. The Hang Seng rose 1.5% in Hong Kong. The Nikkei 225 in Tokyo fell 2.1%. The S&P/ASX 200 ended up 0.2% in Sydney.

Monday's corporate calendar has earnings from Apple, Cisco, Palantir Marriott and and Vertex.

The global economic diary has global manufacturing PMI reports. Clock change in the US and Canada.

Tuesday marks the final day of voting in the key US midterm election, in which Democrats are likely to take back the US House of Representatives from US President Donald Trump's Republicans. There is a strong change that the US Senate also 'flips blue'.

Next week also has a UK interest rate decision on Thursday, on the back of rate holds from the US Federal Reserve and European Central Bank. Unlike its major counterparts, the Bank of England is expected to hike.

By Aidan Lane, Alliance News reporter

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