Tech rebounds after the rout, but the Dow lags
Friday's close: a partial technology rebound, stronger payroll growth and a split set of company results.
Technology stocks recovered some ground Friday after Thursday's sharp selloff, while the Dow lagged. The rebound came on a day of stronger payroll growth, improving consumer sentiment and faster consumer-credit growth, but it did not erase the losses recorded in the previous session.
The market at the close
The S&P 500 rose about 0.3%, the Nasdaq Composite gained 1.1% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.5%. These initial closing readings show a narrower recovery than the larger technology-led gains seen earlier in the afternoon. All three averages finished below their levels before Thursday's selloff.
The day's economic tests
The October jobs report showed 165,000 added payrolls and a 4.1% unemployment rate. It was a new labor-market reading, not a Federal Reserve decision or a promise about the next interest-rate move.
The University of Michigan's preliminary sentiment survey improved, while the September consumer-credit report showed faster borrowing growth. The reports cover different periods. They should not be combined into a single measure of households' reaction to this week's election.
The rebound was not uniform
Chip stocks rebounded after leading Thursday's retreat. A recovery in prices does not settle the debate over future AI infrastructure spending or turn concerns about potential regulation into enacted policy.
Company results offered separate tests of business performance. Airbnb raised its growth outlook, while Cloudflare's sales growth came with margin pressure. Moderna returned to a quarterly profit, and Lam Research announced a capital-return authorization. An outlook is a forecast; a buyback authorization is permission to purchase shares, not a completed purchase.
Energy and crypto
Brent settled at $98.32 a barrel, up 3 cents, and WTI settled at $90.83, up 31 cents. Small daily gains came at the end of a steep weekly decline. Expectations about diplomacy and the risk of renewed disruption to Middle East supply remained different possibilities, not settled outcomes.
Today's Chain, Crude & Chips separates those settlements from Thursday's bitcoin-fund withdrawals and Friday's chip rebound. Crypto trades beyond the stock-market bell, so an intraday bitcoin quote is not a U.S. closing price.
