After a wild week for tech, the U.S. stock market looks like it’s still nursing a headache. Futures for the Dow, S&P 500, and Nasdaq edged lower Thursday night, signaling a quiet start after a heavy sell-off.
Source: YahooFinance
The Dow Jones futures lingered under the flatline, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 futures slipped 0.1% and 0.2%, respectively. The losses came on the heels of a rough session that saw the Nasdaq drop nearly 2%, the Dow shed about 400 points, and the S&P 500 slide close to 2% for the week. In short, investors are preparing to end the week seeing red.
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Musk’s Trillion-Dollar Moment
Tesla shareholders gave the green light to Elon Musk’s eye-popping $1 trillion pay package at the company’s general meeting in Austin. The announcement briefly sent Tesla stock up by 2%, but the buzz faded quickly as after-hours trading flattened the gains.
Tech Giants Drag the Market
The real story of the week is the tech slump. The big names, Nvidia, AMD, and Microsoft, each took significant hits, pulling the broader indexes down with them. Weakness in artificial intelligence and mega-cap tech stocks has turned what looked like a late-year rally into a stumble.
Jobs Data Paints a Gloomy Picture
Adding to the market’s nerves, new data revealed that October job cuts hit their highest level in over two decades. If trends continue, 2025 could shape up to be the worst year for layoffs since the 2009 financial crisis.
What’s Next for Investors
The market is now watching a few key storylines. The long U.S. government shutdown might finally be ending. There’s growing chatter about a possible Fed rate cut in December. Nvidia’s upcoming earnings could be the spark that brings risk appetite back to life.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court’s review of former President Trump’s tariff policies adds a fresh dose of uncertainty to the mix.
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Data Delay Adds to the Drama
The Bureau of Labor Statistics was supposed to drop its October jobs report on Friday, but for the second month in a row, it’s delayed because of the shutdown. Economists had expected a 60,000-job decline and unemployment ticking up to 4.5%, but for now, Wall Street’s left waiting.
