Dow Jones drops 500 points, S&P 500 and NASDAQ 100 trade up to 0.5% lower on Friday

The US stock markets are headed for a weekly loss on Friday as renewed hostilities in the Middle East region surged the crude oil prices to five-month levels. The Dow Jones fell 500 points, followed by the S&P 500, which was 0.6% lower. The tech-heavy NASDAQ 100 fell 100 points on Friday.

Meanwhile, investors favoured safe-haven investments like treasury bonds, bringing the bond yields lower. The US 10Y yields fell below to 5% after a month.The US 30Y fell below 5.3% further alleviating fears of higher for longer interest rates.

The industrial, consumer discretionary and communication sector faced the brunt as inflation fears dampened the investor sentiment. On the other hand, tech stocks extended their fall on Friday as well, with Meta, sliding another 2%, followed by Amazon Inc. (-0.7%), Tesla Inc (-0.6%), were among the top losers.

Meanwhile, crude oil prices hit five-month high levels amid renewed escalations in the Middle East. Brent crude oil futures surged to $115 per barrel, as investors continued to assess the supply disruption risks, arising from the Middle East region.

The semiconductor stocks showed renewed interest amid bargain hunting after Thursday’s brutal selloff. Shares of Nvidia (+0.1%), Micron Technology (+2.4%), Advanced Micro Devices (+1.2%), Intel Corporation (+0.7%) were some of the major winners in Friday’s session.

The macroeconomic data for this week showed economic activity easing in the US. The US Composite PMI eased to 57.6 in October,2026 vs 58.4 September. However, the broader activity remained in the expansionary mode with second strongest business activity since March 2022. The manufacturing PMI remained largely unchanged at 56 in October vs 55.9 in the previous month, although beating the forecast of 55.5.

Similarly, the University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment was revised higher to 48 in late October 2026, up from preliminary estimate of 46.3.