Key Highlights

● The S&P 500 sank as low as 7,527.67 on Friday, October 30, 2026.

● It recovered somewhat to close at 7,580.07.

● Technology did the most damage.

● Nvidia lost about $185 billion in market value.

The S&P 500 fell as low as 7,527.67 during trading on Friday, October 30, 2026, according to market data, far below Thursday's close of 7,720.39. The index then recovered part of that ground to finish at 7,580.07, down 140.32 points on the day.

It was still a bruising session. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 572.25 points to 51,770.31, the Nasdaq Composite tumbled 747.73 points to 25,437.00 in its worst day since June 5, and the Russell 2000 slipped 47.37 points to 2,811.84. Market 4:03 p.m. wrap put the S&P 500 at 7,578.97, a slightly different figure from the official close.

What drove the slide

Technology did the most damage. Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) plunged to $65.76 after warning of cash burn this year and issuing a fourth-quarter outlook that fell short, and the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index sank to 10,688.80. According to market data, the S&P 500's information technology sector was headed for its steepest one-day fall since June 23 at midday.

Megacaps added weight. Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) fell to $204.64, losing about $185 billion in market value, according to market data. Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) slid after reporting trailing 12-month free Cash Flow of negative $42.4 billion, and Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) extended Thursday's record selloff. Dell (NYSE:DELL), Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM) and Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ:AMD) were among the index's steepest decliners, and Datadog (NASDAQ:DDOG) was the S&P 500's worst performer after Intel, according to market data.

Crypto-linked stocks also weighed, with Coinbase (NASDAQ:COIN) and Robinhood (NASDAQ:HOOD) tumbling after Binance was reportedly hacked for about $6.3 billion. Rate worries hung over the session as well, after three Fed officials argued that rates need to be higher, according to market data.

The selling pressure peaked during the session. The Cboe (CBOE:CBOE) Volatility Index hit an intraday high of 23.93, according to market data, before easing to close at 19.42.

What cushioned the fall

The rebound from the lows came as defensive sectors held firm. Six of the 11 S&P 500 sectors finished higher, led by energy, consumer staples, utilities and health care. About 240 S&P 500 members were trading higher at midday, according to market data.

Several individual stocks provided ballast. Regeneron (NASDAQ:REGN) was the index's top gainer after third-quarter Revenue of $5.12 billion beat the $4.54 billion forecast. Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) jumped after a market report said that Clayton, Dubilier & Rice is pursuing a buyout alongside GTCR. Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) and Chevron (NYSE:CVX) briefly touched record highs, and GoDaddy (NYSE:GDDY), Cboe Global Markets and CoStar also rose.

The equal-weight S&P 500 fell far less than the cap-weighted benchmark, according to market data, a sign that the biggest losses were concentrated in megacaps and chips rather than spread evenly.

What to watch

The S&P 500 finished the week down 43.61 points and October down about 71.5 points, its third straight weekly loss, according to market data. It remains up 734.57 points for the year, and Friday's low left the index well short of any new record after a month in which tech and communication services were the only sectors to fall.

The coming days bring Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL)'s results on Monday, November 2, the midterm elections on Tuesday, November 3, and the October jobs report on Friday, November 6. Traders see a December Fed rate hike as the likely outcome. "Global markets are ending an exceptionally busy week on a cautious note," a senior market analyst said, while a senior market strategist said the tech decline "does not appear abnormal" compared with earlier bull-market pullbacks.