Tech selloff deepens Friday as Nasdaq has its worst day since June, days before midterms

Wall Street had a sharp, tech-led selloff on Friday, Oct. 30, because of worries that companies are spending too much on artificial intelligence (AI). The Nasdaq Composite fell 2.9% to 25,437.00, its biggest one-day percentage drop since June 5 ¹.

The S&P 500, a broad measure of large U.S. companies, fell 1.82% to 7,580.07. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.09% to 51,770.31 ¹. The Nasdaq now sits about 7.8% below its record close on Oct. 6 ¹.

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What set it off

Intel and Amazon released disappointing quarterly results late Thursday. That intensified investor worries about the huge sums companies are pouring into AI and whether those investments will pay off ¹.

Intel shares fell 28.6% ¹. Fox News reported that the drop followed a weak forecast for personal computer demand ². Intel's CEO, Lip-Bu Tan, was quoted as saying the PC market correction had sped up ².

The pace of this PC correction has accelerated over the last two months

The damage reached beyond Intel. The chip index fell 7.2% and is down more than 15% for the month. Nvidia dropped 4.2% and AMD fell 10.9% ¹.

The day before, Alphabet, Google's parent company, suffered a historic one-day loss in its shares as AI spending fears hit the stock, Fox News reported ².

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What analysts say

Oliver Pursche, a senior vice president at Wealthspire Advisors, said the week was about the future of AI. He said companies that miss expectations are being punished ¹.

It's fair to say that this week, not just today, has been very much about the future of AI.

Profits were not the problem. Of the 299 S&P 500 companies that had reported third-quarter results, 82% beat expectations, according to LSEG, a financial data firm ¹. The worry is about spending and payoff, not current earnings.

The S&P 500 tech sector had its biggest monthly loss since March 2025. The communication services sector had its worst month since April 2022 ¹. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq both ended October lower, while the Dow gained for the month ¹.

What happens next

Markets reopen Monday, the day before the Nov. 3 midterm election. The reports we read do not say whether the selloff will continue, and they do not discuss its effect on retirement accounts.

That matters because the economy is a central issue in the final days of the campaign. Older voters who rely on stock-based savings are likely to notice how their balances look this weekend. One week of losses does not decide a retirement. But it is a reminder of how much the economy now leans on a few AI-linked companies.

The Record

1. Oct 6, 2026The Nasdaq Composite hit its record close, which it now trails by about 7.8% ¹.
2. Oct 29, 2026AI spending fears sent Google shares to a historic one-day loss, Fox News reported ².
3. Oct 30, 2026The Nasdaq fell 2.9%, the S&P 500 fell 1.82% and the Dow fell 1.09% after Intel and Amazon results ¹.

Sources

1. Reuters (via Yahoo Finance), “Wall Street closes sharply lower as AI cash burn fears spark tech selloff” (2026-10-30). finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/nasdaq-futures-sin
2. Fox News, “AI spending fears hammer Google shares, triggering massive one-day loss” (2026-10-30). foxnews.com/live-news/ai-boom-google-stock-loss-wall-street-

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