The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) was down 4.96 points (-0.0104%) today, while Dow Futures (YM=F) was down 94.00 points (-0.1972%) today, as the market reacted to a mixed bag of corporate earnings and lingering concerns from earlier hawkish Federal Reserve commentary. The main narrative driving market sentiment on Friday, October 31st, 2025, was the impact of quarterly results from major tech companies, with strong performances from some offsetting declines in others.
A significant uplift came from robust earnings reports by tech giants. Amazon (AMZN) soared, posting an impressive 10.72% gain, driven by better-than-expected sales and strong growth in its cloud computing services. Apple (AAPL) also contributed positively, with its shares seeing modest gains after delivering strong profit figures, particularly benefiting from its iPhone lineup and services offerings. This helped the broader market recover some of the losses from Thursday, which saw declines in other tech stocks following earnings.
However, not all tech earnings were met with enthusiasm. Concerns over substantial capital expenditures related to artificial intelligence (AI) investments weighed on some major players. Microsoft (MSFT) notably declined by -1.77%, reflecting investor apprehension about increased spending. Among the Dow's biggest gainers, beyond Amazon (AMZN), were Chevron (CVX), up 3.31%, and Verizon (VZ), which rose 1.89%. Conversely, leading the decliners were Walmart (WMT), down -1.80%, and UnitedHealth Group (UNH), which fell -1.68%, alongside Microsoft (MSFT).
Ed Liston is a senior contributing editor at TheStockMarketWatch.com. An active market watcher and investor, Ed guides an independent team of experienced analysts and writes for multiple stock trader publications.