U.S. stocks end October with a fright
Major U.S. indexes end red; Nasdaq down most, off ~2.8%
Tech weakest S&P sector; Utilities led gainers
Dollar dips; gold off >1%; bitcoin down ~4%; crude up ~3%
U.S. 10-Year Treasury yield rises to ~4.29%
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U.S. STOCKS END OCTOBER WITH A FRIGHT
U.S. stocks slumped badly to close out the month, with the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC dropping more than 2% while the S&P 500 .SPX stumbled more than 1% as economic data signaled the Federal Reserve could be patient with rate cuts while earnings from some market heavyweights also dragged.
Data pointed to a still resilient labor market while the path of inflation remained on a downward trend. Expectations remain the Fed will cut rates by 25 basis points (bps) at its policy meeting next week and its December meeting, although the Fed now has room to be deliberate on its pace of cuts.
The data comes ahead for Friday's government payrolls report, which may be affected by recent hurricanes.
Tech .SPLRCT was the worst performer of the 11 major S&P sectors, down 3.6% for its biggest daily percentage drop since September 3, as a 6.1% drop in Microsoft MSFT.O weighed heavily on the group as well as the broader market following earnings from the tech giant.
Also weighing on the broader market was a 4.1% drop in Meta Platforms META.O following its quarterly results. Julian Emanuel, Evercore ISI's senior managing director for equity, derivatives and quantitative strategy in New York, noted on Thursday that earnings season has been marked by severe price reactions.
On the plus side, utilities .SPLRCU climbed 1% and was the best performing sector, led by a 15.2% jump in Entergy ETR.N which was also the best performer in the S&P 500, after the energy company posted results and said it was contemplating an expansion to its U.S. nuclear power capacity.
For the month, the S&P 500 fell 0.99%, the Nasdaq declined 0.52%, and the Dow .DJI fell 1.34%. Both the Dow and S&P snapped a five-month streak of gains.
Below is your closing market snapshot:
(Chuck Mikolajczak)
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FOR THURSDAY'S EARLIER LIVE MARKETS POSTS:
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RISING YIELDS: IT'S A TRUST ISSUE - CLICK HERE
HALLOWEEN CANDY: PCE, JOBLESS CLAIMS, EMPLOYMENT COSTS, ETC - CLICK HERE
U.S. STOCKS UNDER PRESSURE IN EARLY TRADE AS YIELDS RISE - CLICK HERE
U.S. STOCK FUTURES REMAIN RED WITH EARNINGS, BIG DATA DUMP - CLICK HERE
HIGHER GROWTH, HIGHER INFLATION: ECONOMIST VERDICT ON UK BUDGET - CLICK HERE
"FRANC-LY, MY DEAR..." TARIFFS WON'T MATTER - CLICK HERE
STOXX AT 7-WEEK LOWS - CLICK HERE
EUROPE BEFORE THE BELL: TECH DRAG AND BANK EARNINGS - CLICK HERE
CLOUDS GATHER OVER 'MAG 7' EARNINGS - CLICK HERE
Closing levels Oct 31 https://tmsnrt.rs/4fszPfC
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