US close: Stocks drop, Nasdaq hits three-month low amid tech sell-off

(Sharecast News) - US stocks suffered heavy losses on Friday, with the Nasdaq sinking to a three-month low as a dramatic tech sell-off weighed heavily on market sentiment.

The Nasdaq, which had dropped on Thursday following a negative reaction to Alphabet's quarterly earnings, dropped another 2.9% to 25,437 by the close - its lowest finish since 31 July - with losses from heavyweights Intel and Amazon.com fuelling further declines.

The Dow and S&P 500 weren't immune either, slumping 1.1% and 1.8% respectively, as disappointing earnings and guidance from major tech names renewed concerns about AI spending, though strong results from energy and healthcare companies provided some support.

"Given the importance of tech stocks to global markets, it is not surprising to see stock markets around the world ending the week with heavy losses," said Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at IG. "This week's tech earnings might have restored the market's faith in the AI story, but instead they have dealt it a further blow."

Intel slumped 29% after issuing a downbeat outlook for the current quarter, citing a slowdown in PC demand, with revenue in its client computing and physical AI division falling 5% yearonyear to $8.1bn.

Amazon.com fell 1% after the ecommerce and cloud giant posted weakerthanexpected thirdquarter numbers, missing Wall Street forecasts on both the top and bottom lines. Amazon also kept its 2026 capex forecast at $220bn, adding to the cautious tone.

Sandisk also traded 13% lower despite beating fiscal firstquarter estimates and announcing it would proceed with an eightforone forward stock split.

Reddit was another major casualty, with shares plunging around 29% despite the social media platform reporting a 53% increase in third-quarter revenue to $895m. While overall daily active users rose 12%, US daily active users fell 2%.

Two bright sparks were ExxonMobil and Chevron, which both beat analysts' forecasts with their quarterly earnings, as refining margins surged on the back of ongoing volatility in the energy market. Exxon in particular reported its strongest profit result since the surge in energy prices following Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

Meanwhile, biotechnology group Regeneron rallied after reporting a 36% increase in third-quarter revenue to $5.12bn from $3.75bn a year earlier. It also announced an expanded collaboration with Sanofi involving next-generation immunology treatments, including a $1bn upfront payment and potential additional milestone payments of up to $7bn.

On the macro front, employment costs continued to rise in September, with the Bureau of Labor Statistics reporting a 0.8% increase in civilian worker compensation over the threemonth period, driven by a 0.7% gain in wages and a 0.9% rise in benefits. Over the year, compensation was up 3.4%, with wages increasing 3.1% and benefits 3.9%.

Elsewhere, the Institute for Supply Management's Chicago purchasing managers index decreased to 55.30 points in October, down from 58.80 points in September.