Nasdaq Falls 2.9% as Intel Slides 28.6% and AI Investment Returns Face Scrutiny

Key Facts

U.S. stocks fell on Friday, October 30, as the technology selloff widened and concerns grew that returns on massive artificial intelligence spending may not justify its cost. The S&P 500 lost 140.32 points, or 1.8%, to close at 7,580.07, its worst daily performance since June. The Nasdaq fell 747.73 points, or 2.9%, to 25,437.00, while the Dow dropped 572.25 points, or 1.1%, to 51,770.31. Intel led losses among individual stocks, falling 28.6% in its biggest decline since 1974. The company’s shares ended the previous session, October 29, at $92.07, according to EL7 data.

Intel fell despite reporting quarterly earnings that beat analysts’ expectations, but its forecast for earnings in the final quarter of the year came in below their estimates, according to the Associated Press. The stock was among a broader wave of pressure on technology companies as investors questioned whether heavy spending on artificial intelligence could generate enough profit and productivity to justify it. The agency said concerns were mounting that “hundreds of billions of dollars” might not produce returns sufficient to justify the investment. It also noted that higher interest rates could slow construction of the data centers needed to develop AI services. Nvidia was the biggest single drag on the S&P 500, falling 4.2% and outweighing Intel’s decline on the index.

Losses extended to the indexes’ performance for the week ended October 30, with the S&P 500 down 0.6%, the Dow 0.9% and the Nasdaq 2%. In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury fell to 4.93% on Friday from 4.98% late Thursday, after topping 5.30% earlier in the month. The Associated Press attributed the decline to investors moving into safer assets amid the selloff. Two members voted against the decision to hold rates steady, preferring a quarter-percentage-point increase, according to the board’s statement.

The Federal Reserve said economic activity was expanding at a solid pace, but noted that inflation remained elevated, while it continued to target a return to 2%. September data showed that the core personal consumption expenditures price index, excluding food and energy, rose 0.3% from the previous month. This underscored that inflation remained a factor in assessing the monetary policy outlook, alongside differences within the committee over the latest decision. The next personal income and outlays report is scheduled for November 25, 2026, according to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis.

In the cryptocurrency market, Bitcoin fell below $77,000 on October 30, compared with more than $86,000 early in the month, as shares of companies in the sector also declined following the Binance breach. The platform said the incident’s estimated total impact was about $6.3 billion, and that about $3 billion of affected assets had been frozen on-chain as of its October 30 update. Binance said its preliminary investigation indicated that a DevOps engineer’s laptop may have been compromised, allowing the attacker to access a service container and send unauthorized withdrawal transactions. It added that it had found no evidence that private wallet keys had been leaked. The platform temporarily suspended deposits and withdrawals to conduct security checks, freeze funds and cooperate with law enforcement.

Circle said it had frozen, in coordination with law enforcement, the equivalent of more than $800 million in currencies linked to the incident on Thursday, October 29, while Tether said it had frozen the equivalent of more than $1.5 billion. Binance’s chief executive said the company had allocated more than $6.34 billion to cover losses, including $5 billion in affected cryptocurrencies it already held. The platform aims to resume withdrawals by Sunday, about 40 hours after its chief executive’s statement on Friday, according to CoinDesk. It also plans to publish an initial proof-of-reserves update before issuing a full report on Monday. Binance said it would release further technical details after the investigation is complete and the facts have been fully verified.