Business Report: Intel Plunges 29% as Oil Giants Hit Records, Oct. 30, 2026

This business report for October 30, 2026 covers a Friday when Wall Street turned hard against the artificial intelligence trade. Intel had its worst day in about half a century, Reddit suffered the biggest drop in its time as a public company, and the Nasdaq Composite closed out its steepest monthly loss since March 2025. Oil giants Exxon and Chevron went the other way, hitting record highs on war-driven refining profits, while two Federal Reserve presidents said interest rates need to rise again.

Stock Market Today: Tech Sell-Off Ends a Rough October

The S&P 500 fell 1.82% to 7,580.07 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average gave up 572.25 points, or 1.09%, to finish at 51,770.31. The Nasdaq closed at 25,437.00, its worst session since June, leaving the index about 8% below its recent peak, according to CNBC’s market coverage. Selling picked up in the afternoon as traders cashed out at month’s end and ahead of next week’s midterm elections.

Money rotated into defensive corners of the market. A consumer staples fund hit an intraday record, and a health care fund reached a 52-week high as Eli Lilly, Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer and Gilead all climbed. Walmart and Coca-Cola each rose more than 1%, which helped cushion the Dow. Chipmakers took the brunt of the damage: Advanced Micro Devices dropped close to 11%, Broadcom fell about 5%, and Nvidia slid about 4%. Two widely traded semiconductor funds slipped below their 200-day moving averages for the first time since mid-2025.

The Financial Times added to the gloom, reporting that Blackstone told investors Anthropic is expected to receive a “high” junk rating on its debt after its initial public offering, a change from earlier guidance.

Intel, Amazon and Reddit Feel the AI Squeeze

Intel guided fourth-quarter revenue to between $15 billion and $16 billion, short of the $17.1 billion analysts expected, according to LSEG figures cited by CNBC. Finance chief David Zinsner said the company sees the PC slowdown lasting “at least through the first half of next year.” An explosion at Intel’s plant in Israel earlier this month, which killed two workers, is expected to cost about $600 million in lost revenue over two quarters. The drop shaved roughly $12 billion off the value of the U.S. government’s 10% stake. We break down the guidance in our full report on Intel’s historic sell-off.

Amazon slipped 1.4% after missing third-quarter estimates on both revenue and profit while keeping its 2026 capital spending plan at $220 billion. Reddit sank 29.22% after forecasting fourth-quarter sales of $1 billion to $1.03 billion, below the $1.05 billion Wall Street wanted, CNBC reported. Chief executive Steve Huffman told CNBC that search traffic from Google fell “meaningfully” during the quarter because of AI-generated answers, and the company plans to test requiring users to log in.

Oil Profits Soar as Crude Climbs

ExxonMobil and Chevron both touched all-time highs after reporting that their refineries ran flat out to meet global demand for diesel, CNBC reported. Exxon earned $4.23 a share on an adjusted basis, ahead of the $4.08 consensus, and Chevron earned $5.28, beating the $4.89 estimate. Attacks on refineries in Russia and the Middle East have squeezed global fuel supply, and the U.S. diesel average stood at $6.32 a gallon on Friday, up more than 70% from a year ago, according to AAA. “The system is under stress,” Chevron chief executive Mike Wirth told CNBC.

Crude kept rising. Brent added $2.67, or 2.3%, to $117.55 a barrel in late trading, and West Texas Intermediate gained 93 cents to $102.93 a barrel, according to CNBC market data. The Economist noted this week that Brent is trading near its Iran-war peak even as Gulf exports have strengthened.

Fed Talks Hikes; Bonds, Dollar and Gold

St. Louis Fed President Alberto Musalem said “additional firming of monetary policy will be necessary, and soon,” and Dallas Fed President Lorie Logan said the Fed needs “at least two more 25-basis-point rate increases,” CNBC reported. Fed funds futures put the chance of a quarter-point hike in December at roughly 76%, according to CME’s FedWatch tool. Treasury yields still fell. The 10-year yield fell about 6 basis points to 4.93%, and the 2-year yield dropped to 4.59%. The ICE U.S. Dollar Index was nearly flat at 101.96, while December gold futures tumbled $146.90 to $3,884.50 an ounce.

For savers, the Treasury Department set the Series I savings bond rate at 5.51% for purchases from Nov. 1 through April 30, up from 4.26%, CNBC reported. The fixed portion rose to 1.40%, its highest since 2006.

Crypto Heist and Europe’s Slowdown

Binance said it would cover all losses from a theft estimated at $6.3 billion, the largest crypto heist on record, and that about $3 billion had been frozen so far, CNBC reported. Blockchain analytics firms TRM Labs and Chainalysis linked the attack to TraderTraitor, a North Korean state-sponsored hacking group. Bitcoin traded below $78,000. In Europe, Eurostat’s flash estimate showed euro zone growth slowing to 0.4% in the third quarter, with France contracting 0.1% and Germany growing just 0.2%, according to CNBC.

The New England Angle: Tariffs and Heating Oil

The American Prospect profiled American Roots, a union clothing maker in Westbrook, Maine, near Portland. Co-owner Ben Waxman told the magazine the company laid off 16 of its 92 workers because of fuel prices and tariffs, and that it isn’t shipping to its Canada-based clients right now because it has become too expensive. The Prospect put Maine’s average home heating oil price this week at $6.05 a gallon, in a state where about half of households heat with oil. Closer to Boston, Norwell-based Clean Harbors posted a record quarter, and Logan Airport took its first barge delivery of sustainable aviation fuel.

By the Numbers: What the Data Shows

October split the market in two. By The Boston Report’s calculation from CNBC’s closing data, the gap between the Dow’s 1.7% monthly gain and the Nasdaq’s 5.3% monthly loss was 7 percentage points. Friday alone erased about 749 Nasdaq points, based on the index’s implied prior close.

The oil majors tell the opposite story. Using the companies’ reported figures, TBR calculates that Exxon’s quarterly net income rose about 105%, to $15.4 billion from $7.5 billion, while Chevron’s jumped about 183%, to $9.9 billion from $3.5 billion. Combined, the two earned $25.3 billion, up 130% from a year earlier. Both also beat revenue forecasts by roughly 10%.

A few more TBR calculations: the Brent premium over U.S. crude is about $14.62 a barrel; the 10-year Treasury yield sits about 34 basis points above the 2-year; gold lost about 3.6% in one session; and the $12 billion hit to the government’s 10% Intel stake implies roughly $120 billion in total market value lost. In Maine, Waxman said filling his home oil tank cost $1,600, against $850 a year ago, an 88% jump.

What to Watch

Next week brings the midterm elections and a fresh test of whether the rotation out of tech holds. The Fed’s next decision comes in December, and investors will be listening for whether more officials back a hike.

Sources

• CNBC: Stock market today, live updates (Oct. 30 session)
• CNBC: Intel stock has worst day since 1970s
• CNBC: Reddit stock plunges 29% after weak outlook
• CNBC: Chevron and Exxon hit all-time highs as refining profits soar
• CNBC: Fed officials say they will need to get back to hiking rates
• CNBC: Treasury announces new Series I bond rate of 5.51%
• CNBC: Binance’s $6.3 billion hack, what we know
• CNBC: Euro zone economy slows to 0.4% growth in Q3
• CNBC market data: 10-year Treasury, 2-year Treasury, WTI crude, Brent crude, Dollar Index, gold
• The American Prospect: As the Midterms Wrap Up, One Maine Business Keeps Calm and Carries On
• Financial Times: Anthropic may not secure investment-grade rating after IPO, Blackstone says
• The Economist: The never-ending absurdity of global oil markets