U.S. stock indexes fell: the Nasdaq Composite dropped 2.14% to 26,140.033, the S&P 500 lost 1.09% to 7,659.44 and the Dow slipped 0.34% to 52,002.41. Meta fell 3.72% and Alphabet lost 2.47%, while Apple rose 0.43%. The VIX volatility index also declined, down 7.30% to 18.53. Crude oil futures fell 0.93% to $98.10; gold futures edged up 0.05% and bitcoin gained 0.39%.
Corporate headlines included JPMorgan’s announcement of $5 billion in investments in companies critical to U.S. national security and the start of Albertsons’ $8 billion trial against Kroger over their failed merger. Uber won a bid to dismiss a U.K. mass lawsuit brought by black cab drivers, while the EU said KKR might have misled it over the Telecom Italia deal.
Watch Netflix’s upcoming third-quarter report for answers to questions about user engagement. Market breadth—how widely gains or losses are spread across stocks—is also in focus after Morgan Stanley highlighted a pullback masked by the S&P 500. Brazil’s airlines, meanwhile, face concerns about the impact of a tax rise as an election nears.