Friday, Oct. 30, 2026. Wall Street ended October with one of its worst sessions of the year. The Nasdaq plunged 3.13% and the S&P 500 fell 1.80% as Intel collapsed 30% and chip stocks sank more than 9%. The message from investors is getting louder: spending hundreds of billions on AI is no longer enough on its own; companies have to show the payoff.
Why stocks fell: Wall Street sends AI the bill
INTC −30%: Intel guided fourth-quarter results below expectations, blaming weak PC demand as memory-chip prices soar. It was the trigger for a sector-wide rout: the semiconductor ETF SOXX lost 9.1%, AMD fell 11.9% and NVDA 4.9%.
AMZN −1.8%: Amazon spent roughly $77 billion on capital projects in the third quarter, more than double a year ago, and its trailing 12-month free cash flow was negative by more than $42 billion. Coming after Alphabet’s selloff earlier this week, it reinforced the fear that Big Tech’s AI build-out is burning cash faster than it earns. RDDT −29.5%, RBLX −17.8% and TWLO −15% added to the damage on weak outlooks.
Macro didn’t help. Two Federal Reserve officials said rates may need to rise further, and markets are increasingly pricing a December hike. Oil stayed elevated on the Iran conflict: Brent rose 2.4% to $113.43 a barrel and WTI settled near $103.
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Winners were scarce but notable: Regeneron (+12.9%) and Global Payments (+12%) rallied on results, while Exxon (+1.8%) and Chevron (+1.5%) briefly hit record highs on fatter refining margins.
Sectors
| Sector ETF | Friday | Week |
|---|---|---|
| Technology (XLK) | −5.30% | −1.69% |
| Semiconductors (SOXX) | −9.09% | −1.60% |
| Communication (XLC) | −1.45% | −5.85% |
| Industrials (XLI) | −1.89% | +1.15% |
| Financials (XLF) | −1.02% | +0.30% |
| Health care (XLV) | +0.45% | +2.47% |
| Staples (XLP) | +1.25% | −0.35% |
| Energy (XLE) | +1.58% | +2.52% |
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Try Koyfin → · Affiliate linkThe week and October
- Week: S&P 500 −0.73%, Dow −1.72%, Nasdaq −2.04%; small caps (Russell 2000) +1.3%.
- October: Nasdaq −5.68%, S&P 500 −1.40%, Dow +0.71%. Year to date the S&P 500 is still up 10.23%.
- Gold fell 3.5% to $3,882 and bitcoin slipped to $76,928 after a reported $6.3 billion hack at Binance.
What it means for your 401(k)
- Index funds: an S&P 500 fund lost about 1.8% today and 1.4% in October. A Nasdaq-heavy or tech fund took a bigger hit, which is a reminder to check how concentrated your plan is in a handful of AI stocks.
- Volatility is back: the VIX jumped 18.5% to 20.4. Big swings around earnings and the election are likely; rebalancing, not panic, is what long-term plans are built for.
- Colombia exposure: EC fell 0.8% to $17.14 and CIB 2% to $91.69. The Colombian peso closed at 3,194 per dollar locally and weakened toward 3,232 in offshore trading after Colombia’s central bank unexpectedly held rates at 12.25%. Why the peso moves →
Next week
- Mon., Nov. 2: AAPL and PLTR report after the close (Colombia’s market is closed for a holiday).
- Tue., Nov. 3: U.S. midterm elections; AMD reports after the bell.
- Wed.–Thu.: UBER, QCOM, APP and ABNB.
- Fri., Nov. 6: October jobs report at 8:30 a.m. ET.
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Frequently asked questions
Why did the stock market drop on Oct. 30, 2026?
A tech selloff led by Intel, which fell 30% on a weak outlook, and chip stocks, which lost 9.1%. Amazon’s heavy AI spending and negative free cash flow added to worries about the payoff from AI investments.
How much did the Nasdaq fall today?
The Nasdaq Composite fell 3.13% to 25,364.80 on Friday, Oct. 30, 2026, and lost 5.68% in October.
How did the S&P 500 do in October 2026?
It fell 1.40% in October, including a 1.80% drop on the last day of the month. It is still up about 10% for the year.
Why did Intel stock crash?
Intel gave a weak fourth-quarter forecast, citing sluggish PC sales tied to higher memory-chip prices. The stock fell 30% to $64.44.
Information only, not investment advice. Data delayed.
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