On Thursday, October 31st, U.S. markets closed lower as Microsoft and Meta highlighted rising AI-related costs that could affect future earnings, dampening optimism for megacap stocks that have driven this year’s rally. Meta and Microsoft shares both slipped despite beating earnings estimates, while Amazon and Apple reported strong quarterly results after market close, bolstered by growth in cloud services and iPhone sales, respectively.

According to economic data, U.S. initial jobless claims fell by 12,000 to 216,000 for the week ending October 26th, while the personal consumption expenditure price index rose by 0.2% in September, up from a 0.1% increase in August.

S&P 500 sectors fell, led by information technology, consumer discretionary, and real estate, while utilities and energy stocks closed higher.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 0.90% to close at 41,763.46, the S&P 500 declined 1.86% to 5,705.45, and the Nasdaq Composite fell 2.76% to finish at 18,095.15.

Asia Markets Today

Eurozone at 06.00 AM ET

• The European STOXX 50 index was up 0.59%.
• Germany’s DAX gained 0.56%.
• France’s CAC rose 0.52%.
• U.K.’s FTSE 100 index traded higher by 0.56%.

Commodities at 06.00 AM ET

U.S. Futures at 06.00 AM ET

Dow futures were up 0.27%, S&P 500 futures gained 0.35%, and Nasdaq 100 Futures rose 0.40%.

Forex at 06.00 AM ET

• The U.S. dollar index rose 0.16% to 104.15, the USD/JPY rose 0.48% to 152.77, and the USD/AUD gained 0.26% to 1.5235.
• The dollar steadied after its strongest month in two years as investors awaited U.S. jobs data. The yen softened, giving up recent gains ahead of Japan’s three-day weekend and key risk events.

Photo by Pavel Bobrovskiy via Shutterstock