Wall Street closes sharply on the eve of the US midterm elections
Nasdaq has the biggest percentage drop in one day since June 5, after lower-than-expected earnings from Intel and Amazon and pressure from artificial intelligence costs.
BY THE X-TRADER NEWS NEWSROOM · REPORTING FROM MONEY TIMES · 3 MIN
Wall Street ended Friday (30) with a sharp drop, with the Nasdaq at the center of the losses. According to Money Times, the technological index fell 2.86%, the biggest percentage drop in one day since June 5, and closed at 25,437 points. The movement took place just a few days before the mid-term elections in the United States, scheduled for Tuesday (3).
The Dow Jones fell 1.09%, to 51,770.31 points, and the S&P 500 fell 1.82%, to 7,580.07 points. The pressure was already apparent at the opening: the Nasdaq fell more than 2% at the beginning of the trading session, while the S&P 500 and the Dow also started in the red.
According to Money Times, the main trigger was the quarterly results of Intel and Amazon, released on Thursday (29), below what the market expected. To this balance was added the rise in artificial intelligence (AI) costs in big techs, another factor pointed out by the publication for the fall.
The same source reports that investors left technology stocks and migrated to defensive sectors, those less sensitive to fluctuations in the economy. This shift in portfolios helps explain why the decline in technology indices was more intense than that of the Dow Jones.
On a political level, the backdrop is the mid-term election, scheduled for Tuesday (3). For those who invest, the election is important because it defines the political scenario for the coming months, and the market usually reacts to this type of uncertainty.
The movement combines two vectors: disappointing earnings from technology giants, coupled with rising AI costs, and a rotation of portfolios to defensive sectors. The data collected does not indicate how long this trend is expected to last.
What changes for the investor
For those who operate Nasdaq, the dollar or interest rates, the session shows how the technological index is sensitive to the results and costs of large companies. When balance sheets come in below expectations, the impact tends to appear strongly in the sector. The migration to defensives indicates that part of investors sought protection. It is worth monitoring the next balance sheets, the evolution of AI costs and the result of Tuesday's election, which could change the market's mood in the coming days.
Automatically translated from Portuguese.
