Traders are running scared this Halloween weekend as a combustible mix of market forces have sparked a sell-off in major technology stocks and cryptocurrencies.
Weak earnings reports from AI hyperscalers including Amazon and Google, along with a historic hack on crypto exchange Binance, have left investors in high-growth assets feeling like they have nowhere to turn.
As of this writing, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite was down 3.3% on Friday, its worst day since June. The Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 were also down, though not as dramatically.
Some traders on social media are dubbing the sell-off “Bloody Friday.”
Preelection jitters could also be playing a role, as “cold runs” have typically preceded midterm contests, as noted by wealth manager Stephen Rohrer at Life Financial Group.
Nevertheless, the stock rout could have political implications, as markets now have only one trading day left to recover before Americans across the country are set to vote in elections that are seen as referendums on Republican leadership.
Stocks across tech take a hit
Intel Corp. (Nasdaq: INTC) is leading the sell-off, with shares collapsing 30% after the company reported a weaker-than-expected outlook for its fourth quarter. According to CNBC, it was the tech giant’s worst day in more than 50 years.
Memory chip and semiconductor companies, including Nvidia Corp. (Nasdaq: NVDA) and Micron Technologies (Nasdaq: MU), are also taking a hit.
Sandisk Corp. (Nasdaq: SNDK) shares were down more than 14% Friday as of this writing, extending losses that have seen the stock plummet more than 35% over the past month.
The current tech earnings season has deepened fears that massive spending on AI build-outs—most notably in the form of data centers—may not bear monetizable fruit in the long run.
Google, for example, reported lower-than-expected ad revenue for its all-important Search division, a sign that AI chatbots, including its own, could be cannibalizing its core product. Google parent Alphabet (Nasdaq: GOOG) suffered its worst-ever post-earnings stock decline on Thursday after the report.
Binance hack rattles crypto
On the crypto side, crypto-adjacent companies saw their share prices fall dramatically following news that hackers made off with $6.3 billion in an attack on Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange. Cybersecurity experts linked the incident to an infamous North Korean hacking group.
Binance is privately held, but fellow crypto exchange Coinbase Global (Nasdaq: COIN) saw its stock price tumble more than 10% on Friday.
Trading platform Robinhood Markets (Nasdaq: HOOD) and stable coin issuer Circle Internet Group (NYSE: CRCL) also saw their shares fall.
Some tokens themselves also took a tumble, most notably Bitcoin, whose price had fallen to under $77,000 as of this writing—its lowest in more than a month.
This story is developing . . .