Market Summary

Equities are sinking deeper into the red at midday as the AI-spending anxiety that gripped markets Thursday evening metastasized into a broad technology rout. The S&P 500 is off 125.45 points (-1.62%) to 7595.01, the Nasdaq Composite has shed 688.53 points (-2.63%) to 25516.63, and the Dow is down a comparatively modest 380.26 points (-0.73%) to 51962.51. The selling has been concentrated almost entirely in growth and semiconductor names, with the PHLX Semiconductor Index plunging roughly 6.8% after disastrous earnings reactions from Intel (INTC) and Sandisk (SNDK), while Amazon (AMZN) is adding to mega-cap weakness following a mixed Q3 report.

The damage is notably lopsided. While the Nasdaq is down nearly 2.6%, defensive sectors — Energy, Consumer Staples, Health Care, and Utilities — are holding up well and in some cases posting solid gains, underscoring a rotation out of high-multiple growth stocks and into safer ground. Breadth confirms the divergence: decliners are outpacing advancers at both the NYSE (1540 to 1026) and, more dramatically, the Nasdaq (3061 to 1046), where volume of 3.87 billion shares reflects the intensity of the tech unwind.

The broader narrative remains consistent with Thursday’s selloff: investors are growing increasingly skeptical of the return profile on massive AI infrastructure capex. Amazon’s maintained $220 billion capex guidance and Intel’s admission that it doesn’t expect positive cash flow until 2027 are reinforcing concerns that the AI buildout cycle will keep weighing on free cash flow generation across the sector, even as underlying demand metrics (AWS growth, data center revenue) remain robust.

Market Snapshot

Index	Level	Change	% Change
Dow Jones Industrial Average	51,962.51	-380.26	-0.73%
Nasdaq Composite	25,516.63	-688.53	-2.63%
S&P 500	7,595.01	-125.45	-1.62%

Breadth:

NYSE: Advancers 1,026 | Decliners 1,540 | Volume 276.45 mln
Nasdaq: Advancers 1,046 | Decliners 3,061 | Volume 3.87 bln

WaveFinder Breadth Metrics:

Primary Sentiment: Bearish | 4% Sentiment: Very Bearish | 40 SMA Sentiment: Neutral
Primary Bulls/Bears: 648 / 1,225
4% Bulls/Bears: 87 / 517
% of Stocks Above 20-day SMA: 40.0%
% of Stocks Above 40-day SMA: 54.9%
9-Month Bulls/Bears: 6 / 51 (Bull Follow-Through: 39.13%)

Sector Performance

Ranked from strongest to weakest (midday):

1. Health Care +1.5% — Regeneron (REGN) and Eli Lilly (LLY) earnings-driven strength
2. Energy +1.3% — supported by crude oil above $104/bbl
3. Consumer Staples +1.0% — defensive rotation
4. Utilities +0.7% — defensive rotation
5. Real Estate — not specifically flagged in today’s strong/weak list
6. Industrials — Weak (no specific % provided)
7. Financials — Weak (no specific % provided)
8. Materials — Weak (no specific % provided)
9. Communication Services — Weak (no specific % provided)
10. Consumer Discretionary -0.8% to -1.0% — Amazon (AMZN) and Starbucks (SBUX) weighing
11. Information Technology -3.7% — worst performer, Intel (INTC) and Sandisk (SNDK) post-earnings collapse driving a 6.8% drop in the PHLX Semiconductor Index

Key Earnings & Movers

Intel (INTC) 66.02, -26.05 (-28.29%) — Q4 revenue/earnings guidance well below expectations despite a Q3 EPS beat and strong data-center growth; weak PC market, elevated memory prices, and manufacturing/supply constraints cited; management expects a sharp sequential profitability decline next quarter and no positive cash flow in 2027.
Sandisk (SNDK) 1,183.19, -146.86 (-11.04%) — Adjusted EPS of $49.51 beat the $46.67 consensus; revenue rose 23% sequentially to $11.03 bln vs. $10.72 bln expected; Q2 guidance of $55-57 EPS and $12.2-12.6 bln revenue was only modestly above consensus; Datacenter revenue surged 61% sequentially to $4.8 bln, but management’s cautious seasonal commentary overshadowed the beat.
Amazon (AMZN) 238.46, -5.34 (-2.19%) — EPS miss and negative free cash flow despite accelerating AWS growth and record operating profitability; investors concerned about returns on AI infrastructure spending as 2027 capex is expected to rise further; maintained FY capex guidance of $220 billion.
Starbucks (SBUX) 102.88, -2.63 (-2.49%) — Q4 EPS of $0.80 beat expectations; revenue of $9.14 bln (-4.5% yr/yr) was in line; global comps +7.2%, U.S. comps +7.7%; shares lower on FY27 revenue guidance that missed expectations due to the China licensing-model transition.
Regeneron (REGN) 922.63, +103.86 (+12.68%) — Surging to new 52-week highs on a Q3 beat, strong Dupixent sales growth, and improved collaboration economics with Sanofi.
Sanofi (SNY) 44.58, +1.45 (+3.36%) — Benefiting from improved Dupixent collaboration terms with Regeneron.
Eli Lilly (LLY) 1,434.94, +61.24 (+4.46%) — Extending Thursday’s post-earnings rally, providing further support to Health Care.

Stock Spotlight

Intel (INTC) is the session’s most significant mover, collapsing 28.29% to $66.02 after issuing Q4 revenue and earnings guidance that fell well short of Street expectations. The disappointment overshadowed an actual Q3 EPS beat and continued strong growth in the company’s data-center business — a segment that has been a bright spot in Intel’s broader turnaround narrative. Instead, investors focused on mounting headwinds: a weakening PC market, elevated memory pricing that is crimping demand, and ongoing manufacturing disruptions and supply constraints that are preventing Intel from fully capitalizing on robust server CPU demand.

Compounding the concern, management guided to a sharp sequential decline in profitability next quarter and reiterated that positive cash flow is not expected until 2027, raising fresh questions about the pace and sustainability of Intel’s turnaround. The stock’s plunge was a primary catalyst for the 6.8% drop in the PHLX Semiconductor Index and is reverberating across the broader Information Technology sector (-3.7%), which is the day’s worst-performing group by a wide margin.

Bond Market & Treasuries

Treasuries are rallying sharply, continuing a move that began in Thursday’s late-afternoon session following the disappointing Amazon and Intel results. As of the 09:18 ET update, the 10-year note yield stood at 4.925% (+12/32 in price), after touching 4.905% overnight — levels not seen since the second week of September.

Yield Check (09:18 ET):

2-yr: 4.60% (-6 bps)
3-yr: 4.66% (-7 bps)
5-yr: 4.73% (-7 bps)
10-yr: 4.93% (-6 bps)
30-yr: 5.29% (-4 bps)

The Q3 Employment Cost Index rose 0.8%, matching consensus and following a 0.9% increase in Q2. Wages and salaries climbed 0.7% while benefits rose 0.9%; on a year-over-year basis, wages and salaries for civilian workers were up 3.1%, continuing to undershoot inflation — a trend fueling concerns about pressure on discretionary spending. The Bank of Japan held its policy rate at 1.25% overnight but acknowledged inflation has reached its price target, while boosting planned ETF sales to JPY860 billion from JPY330 billion in January.

Thursday’s close: 2-yr note settled at 4.66% (-8 bps) and the 10-yr note settled at 4.99% (-6 bps).

Commodities

WTI Crude Oil: $104.27/bbl, +2.3% — climbing on continued speculation of military action against Iran following the conclusion of midterm election voting on Tuesday
Gold: $3,982.00/ozt, -1.2%
Copper: $6.505/lb, -1.5%
(Silver price not provided in source data)

Currencies:

EUR/USD: 1.1192, +0.1% (overnight); 1.1166 as of 09:18 ET
GBP/USD: 1.3426, +0.4%
USD/CNH: 6.6507, -0.1%
USD/JPY: 157.06, -0.4% (overnight); 157.26 as of 09:18 ET
U.S. Dollar Index: 101.65, -0.4%

Overseas Markets

Asia: A rough finish to the week, with South Korea down 3.5% and Japan’s Nikkei off 2.1%, as tech-stock volatility overshadowed the Bank of Japan’s policy statement.

Japan: October Tokyo Core CPI +2.6% yr/yr (as expected); Tokyo CPI +2.8% yr/yr (vs. +3.3% expected); CPI ex-food/energy +2.4% yr/yr (vs. +2.7% expected). September Industrial Production +2.2% m/m (vs. +1.2% expected); Retail Sales +2.3% yr/yr (vs. +3.3% expected); Unemployment Rate 2.4% (vs. 2.5% expected).
South Korea: September Industrial Production +9.0% m/m, +1.2% yr/yr; Retail Sales +3.6% m/m.
Australia: Q3 PPI +1.1% q/q, +3.6% yr/yr.

Europe: Flash Q3 GDP readings were broadly ahead of expectations.

Eurozone Q3 GDP +0.4% q/q (vs. +0.2% expected), +1.3% yr/yr; Unemployment Rate 6.5%.
Germany Q3 GDP +0.2% q/q (vs. +0.1% expected), +1.2% yr/yr; Unemployment Rate 6.4%.
France Q3 GDP -0.1% q/q (vs. +0.1% expected), -0.1% yr/yr; October CPI +3.4% yr/yr.
Italy Q3 GDP 0.0% q/q, +0.8% yr/yr; October CPI +5.4% yr/yr.
Spain Q3 GDP +0.6% q/q, +2.7% yr/yr; October CPI +4.9% yr/yr.
U.K. October Nationwide HPI 0.0% m/m, +0.5% yr/yr.

Economic Data

Q3 Employment Cost Index: +0.8% (matched Briefing.com consensus of 0.8%), following a +0.9% reading in Q2. Wages/salaries +0.7%, benefits +0.9%. Year-over-year wage growth of 3.1% continues to trail inflation, raising concerns about discretionary spending pressure.
October Chicago PMI: Scheduled for release at 9:45 ET (Briefing.com consensus 55.9; prior 58.8) — result not yet reflected in available data.

Looking Ahead

Markets will not hold a session on Halloween (Oct. 31) this year.
Midterm election voting concludes Tuesday, with persistent speculation that additional military action against Iran could follow, a factor currently supporting crude oil prices.
Investors will continue parsing the fallout from this week’s mega-cap tech earnings (Amazon, Intel, Alphabet, Microsoft) for further signs of how AI infrastructure spending is affecting free cash flow and margin outlooks heading into 2027.
Watch for confirmation of the October Chicago PMI reading (consensus 55.9) as a near-term data check on manufacturing activity.