Tech Rout Drags Nasdaq Down 2.9% as Commodities Slide; Dow Ekes Out Gain
MarketsFN Team
Wall Street saw a stark divergence Thursday as the Nasdaq 100 tumbled 2.90% to 28,958.69 amid a tech rout, while the Dow Jones eked out a 0.02% gain to 52,867.98 as defensive sectors found support. Precious metals led commodities lower with silver crashing 4.84%.
🇺🇸 US Session Overview
The session revealed a tale of two markets: mega-cap tech stocks bore the brunt of selling pressure while blue chips and small caps showed resilience. The S&P 500 fell 1.21% to 7,663.43, dragged down by the Nasdaq's worst performance in three months. The Russell 2000 bucked the trend with a 0.11% gain to 2,784.03, suggesting money rotated into value names.
Tech weakness followed Moderna's 14% plunge after leaked cancer vaccine trial data overshadowed positive results, while OpenAI's reported $30 billion funding round at a $1.25 trillion valuation failed to lift sentiment. Elon Musk's $1 billion Skydance investment and $366 million campaign contributions added to market volatility.
📅 Economic Calendar Highlights
Jobless claims provided modest relief as initial claims fell to 194K versus expectations of 200K, though continuing claims rose to 1.728 million. The US Leading Index was flat at 0.0% after two months of declines, suggesting economic stabilization. Canada's raw materials price index surged 4.8% versus 3.1% forecast, while Turkey cut its one-week repo rate to 36% as expected.
💱 FX & Commodities
The dollar showed mixed performance, falling 0.88% against the yen to 156.88 but gaining 0.56% versus the Swiss franc. Commodities suffered broad declines with gold dropping 2.62% to $4,041.30 and silver cratering 4.84%. WTI crude fell 2.46% to $99.29 despite Brent's 3.91% rally to $113.04. Cryptocurrencies mirrored tech stocks with Bitcoin down 3.30% to $81,238.
Markets now look to Friday's PMI data for direction, with Asian session traders likely reacting to the dollar-yen volatility and Brent's surprising rally. All eyes remain on tech earnings season and whether today's rotation into value names sustains.
🇺🇸 US Indices — Session Close
| Index | Price | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|
| S&P 500 | 7,663.43 | ▼ -93.74 | ▼ -1.21% |
| Nasdaq 100 | 28,958.69 | ▼ -863.83 | ▼ -2.90% |
| Dow Jones | 52,867.98 | ▲ +11.89 | ▲ +0.02% |
| Russell 2000 | 2,784.03 | ▲ +3.01 | ▲ +0.11% |
💱 FX Majors
| Pair | Rate | Change % |
|---|---|---|
| EUR/USD | 1.1216 | ▼ -0.10% |
| GBP/USD | 1.3395 | ▲ +0.16% |
| USD/JPY | 156.88 | ▼ -0.88% |
| AUD/USD | 0.702 | ▲ +0.19% |
| USD/CHF | 0.821 | ▼ -0.56% |
🛢️ Commodities & Crypto
| Asset | Price (USD) | Change % |
|---|---|---|
| Gold (XAU/USD) | 4,041.30 | ▼ -2.62% |
| Silver (XAG/USD) | 54.64 | ▼ -4.84% |
| Crude Oil (WTI) | 99.29 | ▼ -2.46% |
| Brent Oil | 113.04 | ▲ +3.91% |
| Natural Gas | 2.78 | ▼ -0.29% |
| Bitcoin | 81,238.05 | ▼ -3.30% |
| Ethereum | 2,378.76 | ▼ -3.72% |
📅 Economic Calendar
All times in UTC — Actual highlighted where available
| Time | Currency | Event | Imp. | Actual | Forecast | Previous |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12:30 | USD | Initial Jobless Claims | 🔴🔴🔴 | 194K | 200K | 200K |
| 11:00 | TRY | One-Week Repo Rate (Oct) | 🟡🟡 | 36.00% | 36.00% | 37.00% |
| 12:30 | USD | Continuing Jobless Claims | 🟡🟡 | 1,728K | 1,720K | 1,703K |
| 12:30 | CAD | New Housing Price Index (MoM) (Sep) | 🟡🟡 | -0.2% | -0.1% | -0.1% |
| 12:30 | CAD | RMPI (MoM) (Sep) | 🟡🟡 | 4.8% | 3.1% | 3.3% |
| 14:00 | USD | US Leading Index (MoM) (Sep) | 🟡🟡 | 0.0% | -0.1% | -0.1% |
| 07:30 | CHF | SNB Monetary Policy Assessment | 🟡🟡 | — | ||
| 10:50 | GBP | BoE Gov Bailey Speaks | 🟡🟡 | — | ||
| 20:30 | USD | Fed's Balance Sheet | 🟡🟡 | — | 6,756B | |
| 23:30 | JPY | National Core CPI (YoY) (Sep) | 🟡🟡 | — | 2.1% | 1.7% |
| 23:30 | JPY | National CPI (MoM) (Sep) | 🟡🟡 | — | 0.1% |
Report published: October 22, 2026 — 22:20 CET
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