Nasdaq worst month since March 2025 ends with a 2.9% Friday rout
The Nasdaq fell 2.86% on Friday, its worst day since June, capping an October slide of more than 5% as AI spending fears hit chip and cloud stocks.
October ended the way it began for tech bulls: badly. The Nasdaq worst month since March 2025 closed on Friday with a 2.86% drop to 25,437.00, the index's sharpest single-day fall since June 5, as investors kept selling anything tied to the AI build-out.
What happened
The S&P 500 lost 1.82% to 7,580.07 and the Dow gave up 572.25 points, or 1.09%, to 51,770.31. For the month, Yahoo Finance tallied a Nasdaq decline of more than 5% and a 1.2% loss for the S&P 500, while the Dow still finished about 1.5% higher thanks to defensive and energy names.
Chips led the damage. Intel sank 28.58% after a weak fourth-quarter outlook, AMD fell 10.88% and Qualcomm about 11%, while Nvidia slid 4.22%. Amazon dropped about 2% after its cash-flow surprise, and Alphabet kept losing ground after its worst session in more than 20 years earlier in the week.
The iShares Semiconductor ETF is now about 29% below its recent high, deep in bear-market territory, CNBC said, and the Global X AI and technology ETF is roughly 15% off its summer record.
Why it matters
The worry has shifted from whether AI demand is real to whether returns arrive fast enough to justify the spending. Hyperscalers signalled slower capex growth, Anthropic's filing showed decelerating sales, and Amazon's trailing free cash flow swung to an outflow of more than $42 billion. Cboe's JJ Kinahan told CNBC the reward still has to be proven against a lot of money spent up front.
Money did not leave stocks entirely; it rotated. Procter & Gamble, Berkshire Hathaway and oil majors held up, and CNBC noted the S&P 500 sits only a few percent below its record. Our earlier coverage of the Amazon Q3 miss and the Intel Q4 guide set up Friday's break.
History offers bulls some comfort. CNBC's week-ahead preview cited Stock Trader's Almanac data showing November is the best month for the Nasdaq in midterm election years, with an average gain of 3.5%, and the Dow has gained 2.8% on average in the eight trading days around midterm votes since 1934. BTIG's Jonathan Krinsky, by contrast, warned the S&P 500 could test its 200-day moving average near 7,306. Those competing signals frame how traders read the Nasdaq worst month: as a flush or as the start of something bigger.
What's next
Next week is crowded: Apple and AMD report, the October jobs report lands, and Tuesday brings the U.S. midterm elections. Yahoo Finance's live market blog has the closing detail.
Rates add another layer: Fed officials said on Friday more hikes are likely, which leaves little cushion for richly valued tech. Whether the Nasdaq worst month turns into a deeper correction depends on Apple's numbers and on whether chip buyers return once the earnings flood ends.
A bounce would need help from the jobs data too; a hot print could reinforce hike bets and keep pressure on long-duration growth names.
This article is for information only and is not investment advice.