Friday, October 23, 2026, opens with Wall Street still digesting one of the roughest days for the AI trade this year. Thursday's selloff was narrow but deep: the Dow finished flat while the Nasdaq posted its worst day since June, and chip-equipment makers took the worst of it. Overnight, oil pushed higher again, and Friday morning futures pointed to another soft open, though tech was at least trying to find its footing.
Around 9 a.m. Eastern, Dow futures were down 0.8%, S&P 500 futures were down 0.4%, and Nasdaq 100 futures were down 0.3%, according to Yahoo Finance. That's a different mix from Thursday. Earlier in the morning, Investing.com had S&P futures down 0.2% and Nasdaq futures down just 0.1% at 7:15 a.m. Eastern, while Dow futures were off 315 points. The Wall Street Journal summed it up as Nasdaq futures steady after the selloff, with the Dow lagging.
Thursday's close: the AI trade gets a stress test
The S&P 500 fell 93.74 points, or 1.21%, to 7,663.43 on Thursday, and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 694 points, or 2.60%, to 26,008.86, according to Sharecast. The Dow edged up 11.89 points to 52,867.98, held up by defensive names like Procter & Gamble, which rose 5.6% after earnings. The Associated Press said it was the S&P 500's worst day since July. The Nasdaq 100 fell 2.9%, per Stocktwits via Yahoo Finance.
The damage was concentrated in semiconductors. Lam Research fell 13.5%, KLA dropped 9.9%, Applied Materials 8.4% and ASML 6.5%, according to Sharecast's closing data. AMD ended more than 8% lower and Nvidia fell 4.4%, Stocktwits reported, while Intel slid 8.1%, according to The Motley Fool. Meta fell more than 7% after raising its AI spending plans again and announcing a new non-voting share class. We covered those reports in Thursday's earnings recap.
Why the selloff hit now
The trigger wasn't one bad number. It was a growing worry about how the AI build-out gets paid for. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang told CNBC that "there is a scarcity of capital" for AI infrastructure and that "the demand for capital is much greater than the availability," as quoted by Stocktwits. That landed the same week Meta raised its spending plans again, and The Motley Fool noted Meta reported negative free cash flow for the first time since 2012.
The so-called neoclouds felt it most. CoreWeave hit a 17-month low of $53.50 on Thursday, Stocktwits reported. On Friday morning, this week's earnings headliners SpaceX, Tesla and Meta stabilized in premarket trading, according to Yahoo Finance.
Oil keeps climbing
Energy is the other half of the story. Sharecast said Brent closed Thursday up 3.83% at $112.99 a barrel, and WTI rose 2.39% to $99.47, after The New York Times reported the US and Israel were preparing renewed strikes on Iran after next month's midterm elections. By 6 a.m. Eastern on Friday, December Brent was up another 1.1% to $114, and WTI was above $101, according to Stocktwits. Tehran has vowed to retaliate against any new attacks, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Bonds rally at home, wobble in France
Investors ran to Treasurys. The 10-year yield dropped more than 17 basis points to 4.97% on Thursday, its lowest in almost a month, and the two-year fell to 4.66%, per Sharecast. Yahoo Finance said the 10-year was still holding below 5% on Friday morning. Europe told a different story: French borrowing costs rose above US levels amid budget turmoil, The Guardian reported, and Investing.com listed turmoil in French bond markets among the worries weighing on futures.
Other movers
- Moderna plunged nearly 18% on Thursday to $202.63 after data from its melanoma vaccine study with Merck leaked online, even though the full results showed a 42% cut in the risk of recurrence or death (Reuters, CNBC).
- Crown Castle jumped 7.5% and American Tower rose 3.3% premarket after a Bloomberg report that SpaceX is in talks to use about 80,000 US cell sites (Investing.com).
- SK Hynix's US-listed shares rose about 5% after it halted a pre-IPO and listing review for its Solidigm unit (Investing.com).
- Western Digital, American Express, RingCentral and Autoliv moved on earnings; the details are in our earnings recap.
Thursday's economic data was steady: initial jobless claims fell by 6,000 to 194,000, and continuing claims stood at 1.72 million, Sharecast reported.
Where Loomi fits
Days like Thursday are a reminder that the index can hide what's happening underneath. A flat Dow and a 2.6% drop in the Nasdaq add up to a sharp rotation, not a calm market. Loomi's VIX Gate helps decide whether conditions still support new risk when volatility wakes up, and the GEX regime view shows whether dealer positioning is likely to dampen a move like this or amplify it. For traders who want rules in place before the next gap, Loomi's automated strategies set entries, exits and sizing in advance, with track records you can check on results and verification.
What's next
On Friday, traders get the final University of Michigan consumer sentiment reading, Stocktwits noted. Next week brings more big tech reports, including Intel on October 29 (Intel). For how this week started to turn, see Thursday's premarket wrap.
This article is for information only and is not financial advice.
— Rowan Ellery, Markets Editor, Loomi.Ai. Questions or corrections? See our research methodology.
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FAQ
Why did the Nasdaq fall on October 22, 2026?
The Nasdaq Composite fell 2.6%, its worst day since June, as worries about how AI infrastructure will be financed hit chip stocks. Lam Research fell 13.5%, KLA 9.9% and AMD more than 8%, and Meta dropped more than 7% after raising its spending plans.
How are stock futures doing on October 23, 2026?
Around 9 a.m. Eastern, Dow futures were down 0.8%, S&P 500 futures 0.4% and Nasdaq 100 futures 0.3%, according to Yahoo Finance.
How high is oil on October 23, 2026?
December Brent crude rose about 1.1% to $114 a barrel early Friday and WTI topped $101, on reports the US and Israel are considering renewed strikes on Iran.
Loomi.Ai provides educational market research, not financial advice. Nothing here is a recommendation to buy or sell any security. Trading stocks, futures and options involves substantial risk of loss. Estimates and schedules cited were current at publication and can change.
Sources
- Stock market today: Dow, S&P 500, Nasdaq futures slip after sharp tech sell-off, Yahoo Finance
- Nasdaq, Dow, S&P 500 futures premarket report, October 23, 2026, Stocktwits via Yahoo Finance
- Premarket movers: Crown Castle jumps 7.5% on SpaceX talks; Autoliv slides, Investing.com
- Stock market today live coverage, October 23, 2026, The Wall Street Journal
- Market report: US close, October 22, 2026, Sharecast
- Wall Street close, October 22, 2026, Associated Press
- Why Intel stock fell today, The Motley Fool
- Merck/Moderna cancer vaccine cuts melanoma death or recurrence risk by 42%, shares fall, Reuters via Investing.com
- Moderna stock and cancer vaccine data leak, CNBC
- French borrowing costs overtake US amid budget turmoil, The Guardian