S&P 500 Posts Worst Day Since June as Tech Selloff Deepens

Wall Street's rally in artificial intelligence stocks faltered Friday, pushing the S&P 500 down 1.8% to close out a third straight losing week. The index shed 140.32 points to 7,580.07, marking its steepest single-day decline since June. The Nasdaq composite dropped 747.73 points, a 2.9% slide, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 572.25 points to 51,770.31. The broader market now sits 3.1% below its all-time high set earlier this month.

Intel led Friday's decline with a 28.6% drop, its worst session since 1974, after the company issued a profit forecast for the final three months of the year that fell short of analyst expectations. CEO Lip-Bu Tan told investors that the personal-computer industry continues to feel pressure. Nvidia, which has become synonymous with the AI buildout, declined 4.2% and exerted the heaviest downward pull on the S&P 500, outweighing even Intel's drag. Alphabet's stock fell more than 12% Thursday, its worst day on record, after the company told investors it burned through more cash during the summer than the spring while citing large investments in AI. Amazon slipped 1.4% following a weaker-than-expected summer profit and reported that it consumed $42.4 billion in cash over the prior 12 months, spending $94.8 billion on property and equipment, primarily for artificial intelligence.

Cryptocurrency-linked stocks also weakened after a hack on the world's largest crypto exchange. A U.S.-based blockchain intelligence firm said a North Korean unit was likely behind the attack, which affected more than $6 billion in crypto at Binance. Bitcoin's price fell below $77,000, down from above $86,000 earlier this month. Coinbase Global dropped 10.6% and Strategy declined 7.8%, even though both companies reported quarterly profits above analyst expectations.

Stocks outside the technology sector held up better. Nearly as many S&P 500 members rose as fell. ExxonMobil climbed 2.2% and Chevron added 1.8% after both reported stronger summer profits than analysts expected. Mondelez International gained 3.9% on better-than-expected growth, while Colgate-Palmolive rose 2.3% after higher product prices lifted its revenue and profit.

In the bond market, the 10-year Treasury yield eased to 4.93% from 4.98% late Thursday. Yields have fallen from above 5.30% earlier this month as investors sought safety in government bonds. Brent crude rose 2.4% to $113.43 a barrel. Overseas, South Korea's Kospi dropped 3.5% and Japan's Nikkei 225 fell 2.1% after the Bank of Japan kept rates steady, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng gained 1.5%.

The market moves arrive ahead of Tuesday's midterm elections in the United States. President Donald Trump has historically pointed to stock market performance as a measure of his own success, and concerns about AI have surfaced among voters across political parties.