The sell-off for tech stocks worsens and drowns out strength elsewhere on Wall Street
Oct 29, 2026, 7:34 PM
FILE - Trader Michael Capolino, left, and Specialist Thomas McArdle work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Monday, Jan. 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, file)
Credit: AP Photo/Richard Drew
(AP Photo/Richard Drew, file)
NEW YORK (AP) — A sell-off for tech stocks is forcing the U.S. market down again, with Amazon and Intel helping lead the way this time. The S&P 500 fell 1.2% Friday and was on track to erase its gain for October, even though it set its all-time high during the month. The weakness for technology stocks dragged the Nasdaq composite down 2.2%, but the rest of the market was holding up better. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell a modest 162 points, or 0.3%. Treasury yields sank as investors searched for safer things to own, even though oil prices rose.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back for updates. AP’s earlier story follows below.
U.S. futures are falling Friday as technology companies such as Amazon, Intel and Alphabet all tumble lower, pressuring Wall Street.
Futures for the S&P 500 dropped 1% on Friday, while those for the Nasdaq declined 2.3%. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average were unchanged.
Bitcoin dropped about 3% to $77,695 after a major $6.36 billion hack at Binance, the cryptocurrency exchange. Binance temporarily suspended withdrawals and deposits.
Alphabet’s Class A shares slid more than 12% on Thursday after the company behind Google and YouTube reported weaker growth for the summer than analysts expected. That was their worst day since they began trading more than 20 years ago. The tech giant had been under pressure to at least meet analysts’ expectations for growth amid concerns about how much it’s spending to invest in artificial intelligence.
Its shares were down slightly before the market open on Friday.
AI-related stocks have been volatile. Shares of chipmakers and other companies have risen on enthusiasm for the technology, then fallen on concerns about issues such as supply constraints.
Meanwhile, shares of Amazon slid nearly 7% in premarket trading as the company offered a cautious sales forecast for the current fourth quarter that encompasses the critical holiday shopping period after delivering fiscal third-quarter results that came in below Wall Street analysts’ expectations.
Intel’s stock slumped more than 25% before the market open as the chip company provided a softer-than-anticipated fourth-quarter outlook on continued weakness in the personal computer market.
In energy trading, benchmark U.S. crude rose 2.1% to $104.13 a barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, climbed 2.5% to $113.51 a barrel. Brent remains near the high end of its range since the war with Iran began. The highest price for the most actively traded contract in the market for Brent crude since then is nearly $120, reached in March.
The British military said Friday that a tanker caught fire after a small boat attached two explosives to its hull while it was transiting the Strait of Hormuz, temporarily disabling the vessel.
The explosion comes as Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said Thursday that three oil tankers had struck mines while attempting to leave the strait through an unauthorized route. Earlier this month, UKMTO said in a report that October is already the busiest month for reported attacks on shipping in the Strait of Hormuz since March, in the opening months of the Iran war.
In Europe, France’s CAC 40 gained 0.1% to 7,981.42, while the German DAX fell 0.6% to 25,895.24. Britain’s FTSE 100 added 0.3% to 10,725.66. Asian markets were mostly lower.
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