US Close 23 October 2026: Dow -1.23% as Telecoms and Amex Fall; Cybersecurity Stocks Rally
S&P 500 close: 7,623.68 (-0.52%) VIX: 19.45 (+2.21%) Sentiment: bearish
The S&P 500 closed at 7,623.68 on 23 October 2026, down 39.75 points or 0.52%, as consumer, financial and communication services stocks fell while the technology sector gained 0.35%, per Reuters. T.US lost 7.96% and TMUS.US 7.71% after a Bloomberg report that SpaceX is seeking access to about 80,000 US cell sites for a fourth wireless carrier, and CCI.US rose 9.06%. Brent traded above $116, its highest since late April, after Houthi attacks in Saudi Arabia, per Reuters and TheStreet, and WTI rose 3.99% to $103.44.
At a glance
| Index | Close | Change |
|---|---|---|
| S&P 500 | 7,623.68 | -0.52% |
| Nasdaq Composite | 25,955.34 | -0.21% |
| Dow Jones Industrial Average | 52,215.16 | -1.23% |
| Russell 2000 | 2,775.90 | -0.29% |
| VIX | 19.45 | +2.21% |
The Dow lost 652.82 points, with AXP.US -3.67% weighing on the price-weighted index, per Reuters. For the week the S&P 500 fell 0.5% and the Nasdaq 0.7%, while the Dow rose 0.4% for a third straight weekly gain. Decliners outnumbered advancers 1.72 to 1 on the NYSE and 1.57 to 1 on the Nasdaq. Volume on US exchanges was 15.4 billion shares against a 20-day average of 17.2 billion. The S&P 500 traded between 7,616.56 and 7,658.44 in hourly bars and closed 7 points above the low.
What moved the index
The S&P 500 lost 52 bps on 23 October 2026; consumer, financial, communication services, health care and industrial stocks took about 82 bps, and technology and energy added back about 25 bps.
| Driver | Move | Approx. index weight | Contribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| Consumer discretionary, staples, financials | -1.66%, -1.92%, -1.32% | about 28% combined | about -44 bps |
| Communication services | -1.78% | about 10% | about -18 bps |
| Health care and industrials | -1.11%, -1.27% | about 17% combined | about -20 bps |
| Technology and energy | +0.49%, +2.60% | about 37% combined | about +25 bps |
- AXP.US -3.67% to $313.22 after American Express raised its full-year forecast and announced plans to cut about 5% of its workforce, with a $336 million restructuring charge, per TheStreet. Financials fell 1.32%.
- T.US -7.96% to $20.93 and TMUS.US -7.71% to $146.54 on the SpaceX cell-site report; Verizon fell 1.19%. GOOGL.US -1.24% added to the communication services loss.
- LLY.US -2.54% to $1,273.46 led health care lower; the sector fell 1.11%.
- SLB.US +7.08% to $53.06 after a third-quarter profit beat, per Reuters. The S&P 500 energy sector rose 2.5% to a record high as WTI gained 3.99%.
These four drivers sum to about 57 bps against the 52 bps move; utilities (-0.72%) and materials (-0.74%) add about 3 bps, and the weights are approximate.
Session highlights
- 3.22% was the gain in the First Trust NASDAQ Cybersecurity ETF after an Evercore ISI survey of channel partners found security budgets getting stronger into year-end, per TIKR. PANW.US rose 7.22%, CRWD.US 8.25% and NET.US 7.29%; Okta gained 5.82%.
- CCI.US +9.06% to $85.97 and American Tower +4.08% after Bloomberg reported SpaceX is in talks with both tower owners, per TheStreet.
- 48.0 was the final University of Michigan consumer sentiment reading for October, against 48.1 in September and a 46.3 forecast, per Reuters; one-year inflation expectations rose to 4.7% from 4.6%.
- 4.99% was the 10-year Treasury yield at the close, up about 3.5 bps; the US Dollar Index rose 0.14% to 101.75.
- RHI.US +21.74% to $45.87 after Robert Half reported third-quarter adjusted EPS of $0.49 against $0.47 expected and guided fourth-quarter EPS to $0.36 to $0.46, per Investing.com.
Sector scorecard
- Best: Energy (+2.60%)
- Worst: Consumer staples (-1.92%)
- Dispersion (best minus worst): 4.52 pts
- Technology (+0.49%) and real estate (+0.12%) also rose; communication services (-1.78%), consumer discretionary (-1.66%), financials (-1.32%), industrials (-1.27%), health care (-1.11%), materials (-0.74%) and utilities (-0.72%) fell, based on the SPDR sector funds.
Top movers
| Ticker | Move | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| RHI.US | +21.74% | Q3 adjusted EPS $0.49 against $0.47 expected |
| GMAB.US | +9.48% | Phase 3 Rina-S ovarian cancer trial met survival endpoints |
| NTSK.US | +9.37% | Cybersecurity group rallied on an Evercore ISI channel survey |
| VG.US | +9.29% | Unannounced, likely flow-driven. |
| CART.US | +9.21% | Unannounced, likely flow-driven. |
| LKQ.US | -22.47% | Preliminary Q3 loss; withdrew 2026 guidance; CEO replaced |
| CORT.US | -20.13% | Genmab's competing ovarian cancer drug succeeded in Phase 3 |
| TNGX.US | -16.43% | Unannounced, likely flow-driven. |
| WGS.US | -16.37% | Unannounced, likely flow-driven. |
| BE.US | -11.24% | Cash flow and capital spending concerns outweighed a Q3 beat |
After-hours earnings
Five companies that reported after the close on 22 October 2026 traded their results in Friday's regular session.
- BE.US fell 11.24% to $193.30 as negative cash flow and high capital spending outweighed a third-quarter beat and a raised outlook, per TheStreet.
- FIX.US fell 9.26% to $1,160.86 after Comfort Systems gave no clear outlook and said CFO Bill George will retire, per TheStreet.
- DECK.US fell 4.91% to $81.09 after mixed fiscal second-quarter results, and WDC.US fell 2.97% to $343.67.
- RNG.US rose 5.00% to $83.39 after RingCentral beat third-quarter estimates and raised full-year guidance, per TheStreet.
Notable announcements
- LKQ Corporation: preliminary third-quarter revenue of $3.32 billion against a $3.41 billion estimate and adjusted EPS of $0.47 to $0.53 against $0.69, with European organic parts revenue down 9.8%, per Benzinga. Salvatore Abbate becomes CEO on 15 December.
- Genmab: Rina-S showed a statistically significant improvement in progression-free and overall survival in platinum-resistant ovarian cancer in the RAINFOL-02 trial, per the company. CORT.US fell 20.13%, per Seeking Alpha.
- American Express: about 5% of the global workforce will go; the company had nearly 77,000 employees at the end of 2025, per TheStreet.
Next session catalysts (ET)
- Mon 26 Oct: Verizon reports third-quarter results, per TheStreet.
- Tue 27 Oct: Coca-Cola, UPS, SoFi and Robinhood report, per TheStreet.
- Wed 28 Oct: the FOMC decision; Reuters reports the Fed is expected to hold rates.
- Week of 26 Oct: Alphabet, Microsoft and Amazon report, part of about one-third of S&P 500 companies, per Reuters.
- Tue 3 Nov: US midterm elections.
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