A trader works at the New York Stock Exchange on Oct. 21, 2026.<\/p>\n
NYSE<\/p>\n
The Dow slid on Friday as a sell-off in tech in the prior session shifted to other areas of the market and U.S. oil prices topped $100 a barrel amid rising fears that the U.S.-Iran conflict would flare up again. <\/p>\n
The Dow Jones Industrial Average<\/a> dropped 543 points, or 1%, while the S&P 500<\/a> slipped 0.3%. The Nasdaq Composite<\/a> gained 0.7%.<\/p>\n More defensive stocks came under pressure on Friday, with the consumer staples, utilities and healthcare sectors all lower. Dow component American Express<\/a> fell more than 3% after announcing it was cutting about 5% of its global workforce<\/a>, citing the need to “prepare for AI.” Caterpillar<\/a> also edged down about 2%, while Goldman Sachs<\/a> fell around 1%, adding pressure to the 30-stock index.<\/p>\n On Thursday, many technology stocks had pulled back as traders assessed the impact of outsized corporate borrowing and rising rates on AI and other tech names. Microsoft<\/a> ticked higher on Friday. However, chip stocks such as Micron Technology<\/a> and Advanced Micro Devices<\/a> were making a stronger move, with gains of 4% and 2%, respectively. <\/p>\n “For the last two weeks, investors have been sprinting from tech stocks and data center beneficiary stocks to safe stuff, and eventually, you run out of people willing to do that sprint, and that’s what today looks like and feels like,” Jed Ellerbroek, portfolio manager at Argent Capital Management, told CNBC.\u00a0<\/p>\n Ellerbroek added that tech companies’ earnings have proven strong this season, giving investors a reason to embrace tech stocks and focus less on emotion-based flights to safety.<\/p>\n “Emotion and fear play a really big role,” the investor said. But, “we’ve gotten a few tech companies’ [latest quarterly financial reports] and their earnings results have been good.” <\/p>\n The 10-year Treasury<\/a> yield was steady at around 4.994%. The benchmark yield had fallen below the key 5% level on Thursday for the first time in a month as investors grew cautious about the massive borrowing that is underway to finance the building of AI data centers. <\/p>\n Oil prices also rose on Friday, further pressuring stocks. West Texas Intermediate futures<\/a> were up more than 3% to $102.98 per barrel. Brent crude<\/a> prices rose 3.5% to $117.10. It follows reports that the U.S. and Israel may be drawing up plans for renewed attacks on Iran as part of the regional war that started in late February. Iran has countered that it is prepared to strike back as well. <\/p>\n On the week, the S&P 500 is heading for a slim loss, down less than 0.1%, while the Nasdaq is down 0.2% in the period. The Dow is tracking for a narrow 0.7% advance.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A trader works at the New York Stock Exchange on Oct. 21, 2026. 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