US markets end lower on Thursday

31 Oct 2025 Evaluate

The US markets ended lower on Thursday as traders reacted to earnings news from tech giants Meta Platforms (META) and Microsoft (MSFT). The shares of Meta plunged by 11.3 percent after the company forecasted an increase in AI spending. Further, the software giant Microsoft tumbled by 2.9 percent after hinting that capital spending growth will accelerate this fiscal year. Meanwhile, investors largely shrugged off seemingly positive developments out of US President Donald Trump's highly anticipated meeting with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping. The US has agreed to reduce fentanyl-linked tariffs on China to 10 percent from 20 percent, while China has agreed to resume purchases of U.S. soybeans. Moreover, China will suspend the implementation of new export controls on rare earths, and in return, the US will suspend its 50 percent penetration rule on export controls.

On the sectoral front, software stocks moved sharply lower dragging the Dow Jones U.S. Software Index down by 2.2 percent. Considerable weakness also emerged among telecom stocks, as reflected by the 2.0 percent loss posted by the NYSE Arca North American Telecom Index.

Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 109.88 points or 0.23 percent to 47,522.12, Nasdaq plunged 377.33 points or 1.58 percent to 23,581.14 and S&P 500 slumped 68.25 points or 0.99 percent to 6,822.34.

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