Tech stock sell-off deepens on Wall Street as S&P 500 posts its worst day since June

Tech stocks slid further on Halloween Friday, deepening a Wall Street sell-off as worries grew that the frenzy around artificial intelligence had pushed prices too high. In New York, the S&P 500 tumbled 1.8% for its worst day since June and closed out a third straight losing week, according to AP. The tech-heavy Nasdaq fell 2.86% after a 1.4% slide on Thursday. Intel shares tumbled 29%, Alphabet dropped 13% and Amazon closed down 1.4%. Alphabet is now down 30% from its May peak, and the Nasdaq has lost almost 8% in three weeks. Several US tech stocks are now in bear market territory, meaning they are more than 20% below their peaks, and some have halved in value.

The Daily Mail, a right-leaning outlet, leads with 'carnage' and a crash warning, saying the slump has fuelled fears of a market crash that could hit the savings and pensions of millions of British families. It features analysts' warnings of 'tech carnage,' Intel's plunge and the roughly 400 billion pounds wiped from Alphabet's value, and it stresses that British investors hold global tracker funds dominated by US tech giants. The Washington Times, also on the right, carries the same headline and opening as the AP wire report. The New York Times, the left-leaning source, takes a different angle, headlining 'The Tech Tumult Rocks Wall Street' and focusing on investor nervousness about the huge spending bills tech giants are amassing to fund their AI bets. Its excerpt includes no index figures. The AP report, the alternative source, gives the market numbers and the three-week losing streak in neutral terms. All sides agree on the Friday decline and the tech-led losses, but the Daily Mail stresses crash risk and British pensions, the Times stresses corporate spending, and AP stresses the index figures.