Nasdaq 100 futures sink 2% as Amazon and Intel slide
Published on October 30, 2026
The Nasdaq 100 is headed for a rough open this Friday. Its futures are down nearly 2% after Amazon's disappointing quarter and Intel's after hours collapse. The rest of the market looks much calmer, which tells you this is a Big Tech problem, not a market wide one.
Amazon and Intel push Nasdaq 100 futures lower
Nasdaq 100 futures are off about 2% this morning, Investing.com reports. At 1:38 a.m. ET, TipRanks had them at minus 1.87%, with S&P 500 futures down 0.90% and Dow futures down just 0.19%.
Start with Amazon. AWS actually sped up, growing 39% to $46 billion, its fastest pace in almost five years, according to Reuters. Spending is the issue. Capex hit $77.3 billion in the quarter, about $20 billion above estimates, and trailing twelve month cash burn reached $42.4 billion. The stock fell as much as 7% after hours. "The free cash flow looks like the ugly part of the report," said Dave Wagner, portfolio manager at Aptus Capital Advisors.
Intel was worse. It guided to $15 billion to $16 billion in revenue this quarter against roughly $17 billion expected, Yahoo Finance noted. Its CFO expects the PC slowdown to last at least through the first half of next year. Shares sank more than 20% after hours, per StockTitan.
Big Tech bleeds while the rest of the market rallies
The Nasdaq 100 had already lost 1.38% on Thursday to 29,402.51, MarketScreener reported. Alphabet posted the worst day in its history, down 12.6%, erasing close to $500 billion in market value.
Here is the twist. Most stocks went up. The S&P 500 slipped only 0.30% to 7,720.39, while the equal weight version (the RSP ETF) gained 1.20% and the Russell 2000 rose 1.01%, per CappNotes. Money is not leaving stocks. It is rotating out of the megacaps into everything else.
Bonds tell the same story. The 10 year Treasury yield slipped toward 4.91% and is down about 37 basis points in October, its biggest monthly drop since December 2023, Reuters reported via Business Recorder. Chris Weston at Pepperstone said the market is "questioning whether shareholders will earn an adequate return on the enormous capital being deployed."
What a 2% gap means for the Nasdaq 100
Do the math. A 2% drop from Thursday's close puts the Nasdaq 100 near 28,815. That is right on top of 28,745, the mid September low that Fawad Razaqzada at StoneX calls "the line in the sand." A close below it would confirm a lower low on the chart.
The S&P 500 has more room. Futures at minus 0.9% point to an open near 7,650, still above the 7,600 to 7,620 area that Schwab's Nathan Peterson flagged as key short term support on October 23. Europe is the stronger side of the trade: EUR/USD is up 0.1% near 1.1190, Zonebourse data show. Brent is up about 1% near $116 after Houthi claimed attacks on Saudi sites, not enough to change today's read.
Key levels today
| Instrument | Level (support / resistance) | Change | Scenario / What to watch |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nasdaq 100 | Support 28,745 then 29,000. Resistance 29,500 then 30,000 | Daily: down 1.38% Thursday. Futures: down 1.87% this morning | A 2% gap lands near 28,815, just above the 28,745 line flagged by StoneX. A close below confirms a lower low |
| S&P 500 | Support 7,600 to 7,620 | Daily: down 0.30% Thursday. Futures: down 0.90% this morning | Zone flagged by Schwab on Oct 23. Holding it keeps the selloff contained to tech |
| EUR/USD | Pivot 1.1200. Support 1.1150 then 1.1113. Resistance 1.1275 | Daily: up 0.1% this morning | Per Continuum Economics, a break under 1.1150 puts the 1.1113 year to date low back in play |
Economic calendar
- 6:00 a.m. ET (11:00 Paris), euro area Q3 GDP, per the AFP calendar. A strong print extends Europe's lead over Wall Street. A soft one pushes EUR/USD below 1.1200.
- 8:30 a.m. ET (13:30 Paris), Q3 Employment Cost Index, on the IC Markets calendar. Hot wage growth lifts the 10 year yield and takes away tech's only cushion right now. A tame number keeps yields sliding.
- 9:45 a.m. ET (14:45 Paris), Chicago PMI. It lands 15 minutes after the open. A miss could extend the first move.
Next week: ISM manufacturing Monday at 10 a.m. ET, Apple after the close the same day, then the midterms on Tuesday.
What it changes for your session
- Stay flat from 8:25 to 8:45 a.m. ET around the ECI, and from 9:25 to 9:50 a.m. ET, between the open and the Chicago PMI.
- The Nasdaq 100 is today's most nervous instrument. With a gap near 2%, swings will be wider, so cut your size to keep your maximum loss the same as on a normal day.
- What would break today's read: the Nasdaq 100 filling its gap and getting back above 29,500 in the first hour. The drop would then look like an opening overreaction.
- After a gap of more than 1%, wait for the first 15 minute candle to close (9:45 a.m. ET) before you act. It is also month end Friday, so the last hour can move for no obvious reason.
The bottom line
Amazon and Intel are knocking Nasdaq 100 futures down nearly 2%, one day after Alphabet's worst session ever. The rest of the market is holding, and the open will tell us whether 28,745 survives.
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This is not investment advice. For information only.