Amazon and Intel Slide, Labor-Cost Data Due, Exxon and Chevron Report
By Juliegrace Brufke | Quincy News Correspondent
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Washington (Quincy News) — Market Recap: Stocks ended lower Thursday after Google’s parent company, Alphabet, reported disappointing earnings and dragged down tech shares. The Dow and S&P 500 each slipped 0.3%, while the Nasdaq fell 1.4%.
Amazon’s sales rose 12% to $201.9 billion, and its cloud-computing business, Amazon Web Services, grew 39%. But the company is spending huge sums on AI data centers. Over the past 12 months, it spent about $42.4 billion more on buildings and equipment than its operations brought in. Amazon shares are down about 7% before the market opens.
Intel’s sales jumped 21% to $16.5 billion, but the chipmaker warned that this quarter will be weaker than investors hoped. It pointed to sluggish demand for personal computers, limits on how many chips it can make, and the cost of expanding production. Intel shares are down about 25% before the opening bell.
Oil prices edged lower Thursday. U.S. crude fell 0.8% to $102 a barrel, and Brent, the international benchmark, slipped 0.4% to $114.88.
Today’s Focus: At 8:30 a.m. ET, the government releases the Employment Cost Index, which tracks how much employers are spending on pay and benefits. Investors are watching closely because rising wages can keep inflation high.
Thursday’s reports painted a mixed picture. The economy grew at a strong 3.4% annual pace from July through September, but prices are still climbing fast. The Fed’s preferred inflation gauge was up 3.6% from a year earlier in September. Excluding food and energy, which swing a lot, it was up 3.1%.
ExxonMobil reported quarterly profit of $15.4 billion before Friday’s market open, while Chevron earned $9.9 billion. Calls with company executives later today should shed more light on oil production, refining and the outlook for energy markets.
ON THE SCHEDULE FOR FRIDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2026
-Before the market opens – ExxonMobil and Chevron earnings
-8:30 a.m. ET – Third-quarter Employment Cost Index
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