Big tech stocks falter as investors question whether billions being poured into AI can generate returns quickly enough

A sell-off of tech stocks that began earlier this month and gained steam with disappointing earnings from leading tech companies drove US markets down by hundreds of billions of dollars Friday. In total, the decline has knocked nearly $1tn in value off the tech-heavy Nasdaq exchange in one week and erased about $2tn in a month.

The S&P 500, the index of the 500 most valuable companies in the US, fell by more than 1% Friday, losing hundreds of billions of dollars in market value. It was on track to erase its gain for October, even though it set its all-time high during the same month. The weakness for technology stocks dragged the Nasdaq composite down even further, more than 3%, also erasing hundreds of billions in value. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell less.

Big tech stocks falter as investors question whether billions being poured into AI can generate returns quickly enough

A sell-off of tech stocks that began earlier this month and gained steam with disappointing earnings from leading tech companies drove US markets down by hundreds of billions of dollars Friday. In total, the decline has knocked nearly $1tn in value off the tech-heavy Nasdaq exchange in one week and erased about $2tn in a month.

The S&P 500, the index of the 500 most valuable companies in the US, fell by more than 1% Friday, losing hundreds of billions of dollars in market value. It was on track to erase its gain for October, even though it set its all-time high during the same month. The weakness for technology stocks dragged the Nasdaq composite down even further, more than 3%, also erasing hundreds of billions in value. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell less.

Blockchain intelligence firm TRM says North Korea’s TraderTraitor hacking unit is responsible for the largest crypto theft on record

• Explainer: How big a deal is the $6.3bn crypto heist, who did it, and are investments safe?

• Tell us: have you been affected by the Binance hack?

• North Korean group blamed for $6.3bn Binance hack in biggest ever crypto heist

Most major cryptocurrencies have fallen in value since news of the Binance theft broke, Coinmarketcap data shows.

That includes:

Bitcoin: -2.35% over the last 24 hours, to $77,940

Ethereum: -3.6%, to $2,227

BNB: -5.6%, to $706

Solana: -2.67%, to $97

Chainlink: -3.1%, to $11.02

Temporarily suspended withdrawals while we complete a security revamp of the withdrawal service and its related addresses

Revoked the affected address authorizations

Engaged law enforcement and blockchain intelligence partners to trace and recover funds

Our team hasn’t stopped. We’re working closely with law enforcement to ensure the matter is handled appropriately - and I’ll share what I can, as soon as I can.