US open: Dow tumbles over 700 points as tech concerns, oil surge weigh on sentiment

(Sharecast News) - Major indices were firmly in the red at the open on Friday amid ongoing concerns that the artificial intelligence trade may be wavering and rising oil prices.

As of 1525 BST, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 1.39% at 52,133.24, while the S&P 500 shed 0.63% to 7,615.33 and the Nasdaq Composite came out of the gate 0.28% softer at 25,935.96.

The Dow opened 734.74 points lower on Friday, easily reversing modest gains recorded in the previous session.

Comments from Nvidia chief Jensen Huang were still in focus early on Friday, after he said demand for neocloud infrastructure was "off the charts" but warned that scarce capital was holding back growth. Huang's comments seemingly spooked markets, reigniting worries about tightening credit conditions, while Meta's own comments on the scale of funding needed for AI projects added further pressure to the sector.

Oil prices were also drawing an amount of investor attention early in the session, with West Texas Intermediate futures up 2.88% at $102.33 a barrel, while Brent crude rose 2.33% to $115.81 per barrel following reports that the US and Israel were drawing up plans for renewed attacks on Iran.

On the macro front, US business activity cooled slightly in October, but both the manufacturing and services PMIs continued to signal some of the strongest growth seen in the past five years, even as sellingprice inflation accelerated to its fastest pace since August 2022. S&P Global's flash manufacturing PMI edged up to 56.0 from 55.9, a 53month high, while the manufacturing output index dipped to 55.8. In services, the business activity index eased to 57.9 from 58.8, and the composite output PMI slipped to 57.6 from 58.4, still pointing to the secondstrongest expansion since early 2022.

Elsewhere, consumer sentiment was little changed in October, according to the University of Michigan, slipping just 0.2% from September to 48 as firmer expectations were offset by a sharp drop in views of current conditions. The current conditions index fell 8.3% on the month, driven entirely by a steep deterioration in buying conditions for durable goods amid higher interest rates and mounting affordability concerns. Overall sentiment now sits 10% below yearago levels and 15% beneath February's reading, just before the Iran conflict. The expectations index improved 5.4% to 48.8, helped by stronger yearahead business conditions views, though respondents still judged the outlook to be materially weaker than last October.

In the corporate space, American Express posted a strong set of thirdquarter numbers, with net income rising to $3.7bn from $2.9bn a year earlier, while earnings per share climbed 31% to $5.42, up from $4.14 in the prioryear period. Excluding the previously announced gain from the sale of its stake in Global Business Travel Group - a $982m pretax benefit - adjusted net income came in at $3.2bn, or $4.68 per share.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com

Dow Jones - Risers

Chevron Corp. (CVX) $231.03 1.94%

Amgen Inc. (AMGN) $443.21 0.93%

International Business Machines Corporation (CDI) (IBM) $252.83 0.29%

Apple Inc. (AAPL) $348.16 0.20%

Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $105.91 0.04%

Dowdupont Inc. (DWDP) $0.00 0.00%

Walmart Inc. (WMT) $0.00 0.00%

Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (WBA) $0.00 0.00%

Dow Chemical Co. (DOW) $31.57 -0.06%

Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $112.37 -0.30%

Dow Jones - Fallers

Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) $43.85 -2.95%

Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $684.71 -2.73%

Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $144.85 -2.21%

American Express Co. (AXP) $316.45 -2.14%

Coca-Cola Co. (KO) $93.31 -2.13%

Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) $162.15 -2.08%

Home Depot Inc. (HD) $319.52 -1.98%

3M Co. (MMM) $171.63 -1.92%

Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $521.84 -1.83%

Nike Inc. (NKE) $37.58 -1.76%

S&P 500 - Risers

Robert Half Inc. (RHI) $42.73 13.54%

Crown Castle International (CCI) $88.00 11.63%

Tractor Supply Company (TSCO) $33.90 11.16%

Sba Communications Corp. (SBAC) $190.81 10.32%

American Tower Corp (Reit) (AMT) $192.95 6.26%

Intuitive Surgical Inc. (ISRG) $452.99 5.07%

Helmerich & Payne Inc. (HP) $38.76 4.67%

Adobe Systems Inc. (ADBE) $267.64 3.72%

Comcast Corp. (CMCSA) $22.75 3.54%

Halliburton Co. (HAL) $34.40 3.51%

S&P 500 - Fallers

LKQ Corporation (LKQ) $18.16 -15.99%

Coterra Energy Inc. (CTRA) $32.56 -8.62%

United Rentals Inc. (URI) $1,052.62 -5.49%

AT&T Inc. (T) $21.52 -5.38%

Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd (NCLH) $14.72 -5.31%

Accenture Plc (ACN) $247.06 -4.73%

Carmax Inc. (KMX) $50.56 -4.48%

Alaska Air Group Inc. (ALK) $33.76 -4.34%

KLA-Tencor Corp. (KLAC) $147.32 -4.17%

Borg Warner Inc. (BWA) $53.41 -3.94%

Nasdaq 100 - Risers

Intuitive Surgical Inc. (ISRG) $452.99 5.25%

Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (CHKP) $152.26 3.89%

Adobe Systems Inc. (ADBE) $267.64 3.72%

Comcast Corp. (CMCSA) $22.75 3.54%

Paychex Inc. (PAYX) $118.08 3.48%

DENTSPLY Sirona Inc. (XRAY) $9.47 3.38%

Biogen Inc (BIIB) $248.28 3.28%

Automatic Data Processing Inc. (ADP) $306.67 3.25%

Gen Digital Inc. (GEN) $24.84 3.11%

Skyworks Solutions Inc. (SWKS) $83.07 2.95%

Nasdaq 100 - Fallers

Qvc Group Inc Series A (QVCGA) $0.34 -13.49%

KLA-Tencor Corp. (KLAC) $147.32 -4.41%

Seagate Technology Plc (STX) $637.73 -3.81%

Illumina Inc. (ILMN) $270.06 -3.57%

Lam Research Corp. (LRCX) $227.20 -3.56%

Asml Holdings N.V. (ASML) $1,569.67 -3.27%

Amazon.Com Inc. (AMZN) $248.74 -3.26%

Synopsys Inc. (SNPS) $428.40 -3.12%

Ross Stores Inc. (ROST) $230.37 -2.62%

Marriott International - Class A (MAR) $392.39 -2.49%