Nasdaq Falls 2.6% in Worst Day Since June as Brent Crude Tops $113
New York: U.S. stocks fell sharply at the close on October 22. The Nasdaq Composite dropped 2.6% to 26,008.86, its worst day since June. The S&P 500 fell 1.21% to 7,663.43, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average edged up 11 points to 52,867.
Surging oil prices were the main pressure on markets. Brent crude futures rose 4% to $113.17 a barrel, and U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude gained 2.4% to about $99.47. According to a New York Times report on Wednesday evening, U.S. and Israeli officials have drawn up plans for a short but intensive operation against Iran after the midterm elections; the United States has also ordered non-emergency personnel and their families to leave Saudi Arabia. President Donald Trump told reporters late Wednesday that something on Iran would happen fairly soon one way or another, and accused Iran in a social media post of pushing oil prices higher ahead of the midterms. The national average gasoline price remained above $4 a gallon.
Technology shares led the decline. Meta and Tesla fell after their earnings reports as investors questioned the returns on the companies' large super intelligence spending plans. Tesla closed down 3.08% at more than $374 a share, and semiconductor stocks fell broadly. In contrast to equities, the yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note fell about 19 basis points on the day to 4.95%.
Elsewhere in the market, the Russell 2000 rose 0.11%, while the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index fell 6.72% with all 30 components lower; on the New York Stock Exchange, 2,319 stocks rose and 1,596 fell, and the equal-weight S&P 500 gained 0.73%. By sector, consumer staples rose 3.31%, utilities 2.07%, health care 1.33% and financials 1.09%. The VIX volatility index jumped 14.09% to 19.03, and gold fell about 2.6%.
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
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