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 Down Jones Industrial Average fell less.

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© Photograph: Brendan McDermid/Reuters

© Photograph: Brendan McDermid/Reuters

© Photograph: Brendan McDermid/Reuters

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 Down Jones Industrial Average fell less.

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© Photograph: Brendan McDermid/Reuters

© Photograph: Brendan McDermid/Reuters

© Photograph: Brendan McDermid/Reuters

Business is booming for two biggest US oil companies, with both benefiting from higher prices and record production

ExxonMobil and Chevron both reported better than expected quarterly results on Friday as the oil majors benefited from higher prices and record production.

The boon for oil companies has simultaneously been a major pain point for consumers, who say the higher cost of living, especially gas prices, will affect how they vote in the upcoming midterm elections that will determine control of Congress.

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© Photograph: Jenny Kane/AP

© Photograph: Jenny Kane/AP

© Photograph: Jenny Kane/AP

Andrea Egan calls for same political focus on teachers, care sector and NHS and says Jackdaw decision ‘a serious misstep’

• UK politics live – latest updates

The leader of the UK’s biggest trade union has called for the same political focus to be given to NHS, education and care sector workers as there has been on those employed in North Sea oil and gas.

Andrea Egan, the general secretary of Unison, said too often public sector workers were treated as an “afterthought” by the government compared with the “massive political focus” on protecting jobs in the North Sea.

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© Photograph: Gary Calton/The Observer

© Photograph: Gary Calton/The Observer

© Photograph: Gary Calton/The Observer

Oil giant comes under fire from climate campaigners, as its earnings reach $8.46bn while ‘innocent civilians suffer’

BP’s quarterly profits have been labelled “obscene” after they hit an 18-year high of $8.46bn (£6.3bn), as the war in the Middle East drove up oil and gas prices.

The energy company hailed a “banner quarter” on Friday, with its underlying ​replacement ⁠cost profit – a key measure of its income – almost quadrupling in the three months to the end of September, from $2.2bn in the same period ​a year ​ago. The jump meant BP’s quarterly profits hit their highest level since the $8.9bn recorded in 2008.

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© Photograph: Luke MacGregor/Reuters

© Photograph: Luke MacGregor/Reuters

© Photograph: Luke MacGregor/Reuters

Oil giant hails ‘banner quarter’ as earnings reach $8.46bn, prompting anger from climate campaigners

BP’s profits have hit their highest level in almost two decades as the war in the Middle East drove up oil and gas prices and led to “significantly higher” trading.

The energy company hailed a “banner quarter” on Friday, with its underlying ​replacement ⁠cost profit – a key measure of its income – almost quadrupling to $8.46bn (£6.3bn), from $2.2bn ​a year ​ago.

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© Photograph: Luke MacGregor/Reuters

© Photograph: Luke MacGregor/Reuters

© Photograph: Luke MacGregor/Reuters

Tankers, tracked by Greenpeace, are first phase of Trump-Putin deal – but there is uncertainty over whether they will unload

Seven oil tankers carrying an estimated 288,000 tonnes of Russian diesel are now sailing towards the US, though it is uncertain if the vessels will be able to unload amid a political row about the legality of the shipments.

The transport, tracked by the pressure group Greenpeace, is the first phase of a contentious supply deal negotiated between presidents Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin earlier this month, reversing years of sanctions on Russia oil.

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© Photograph: Martin Witte/Alamy

© Photograph: Martin Witte/Alamy

© Photograph: Martin Witte/Alamy

Tankers, tracked by Greenpeace, are first phase of Trump-Putin deal – but there is uncertainty over whether they will unload

Seven oil tankers carrying an estimated 288,000 tonnes of Russian diesel are now sailing towards the US, though it is uncertain if the vessels will be able to unload amid a political row about the legality of the shipments.

The transport, tracked by the pressure group Greenpeace, is the first phase of a contentious supply deal negotiated between presidents Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin earlier this month, reversing years of sanctions on Russia oil.

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© Photograph: Martin Witte/Alamy

© Photograph: Martin Witte/Alamy

© Photograph: Martin Witte/Alamy

Exclusive: Backbenchers voice alarm over ‘intolerable position’ faced by Miatta Fahnbulleh over oilfield decision

Furious Labour MPs have been lobbying the prime minister and chancellor not to overrule the energy secretary should she decide to block the Rosebank oilfield.

MPs say they are alarmed at the cabinet splits that have emerged over the issue after sources told the Guardian that Miatta Fahnbulleh was minded to refuse environmental permission for the field.

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© Photograph: Kirsty O’Connor/Treasury

© Photograph: Kirsty O’Connor/Treasury

© Photograph: Kirsty O’Connor/Treasury

Energy firm to return $5bn to shareholders as climate campaigners criticise high profits

• Business live – latest updates

Shell has doubled its profits in the last quarter after the Middle East conflict drove up the price of oil and gas and created shortages in the global market.

Shell reported on Thursday morning that it made an adjusted profit of $10.8bn (£8.1bn) in the July-September quarter, up from $5.432bn in the third quarter of 2025. The results beat analyst expectations for a rise to $10.33bn.

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© Photograph: Piroschka Van De Wouw/Reuters

© Photograph: Piroschka Van De Wouw/Reuters

© Photograph: Piroschka Van De Wouw/Reuters

Energy firm to return $5bn to shareholders as climate campaigners criticise high profits

• Business live – latest updates

Shell has doubled its profits in the last quarter after the Middle East conflict drove up the price of oil and gas and created shortages in the global market.

Shell reported on Thursday morning that it made an adjusted profit of $10.8bn (£8.1bn) in the July-September quarter, up from $5.432bn in the third quarter of 2025. The results beat analyst expectations for a rise to $10.33bn.

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© Photograph: Piroschka Van De Wouw/Reuters

© Photograph: Piroschka Van De Wouw/Reuters

© Photograph: Piroschka Van De Wouw/Reuters

Exclusive: Backbenchers voice alarm over ‘intolerable position’ faced by Miatta Fahnbulleh over oilfield decision

Furious Labour MPs have been lobbying the prime minister and chancellor not to overrule the energy secretary should she decide to block the Rosebank oilfield.

MPs say they are alarmed at the cabinet splits that have emerged over the issue after sources told the Guardian that Miatta Fahnbulleh was minded to refuse environmental permission for the field.

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© Photograph: Kirsty O’Connor/Treasury

© Photograph: Kirsty O’Connor/Treasury

© Photograph: Kirsty O’Connor/Treasury

President at Texas campaign rally hails deal struck with post-Maduro government as ‘greatest oil victory in history’

Donald Trump suggested Venezuela would become the 51st state of the United States on Tuesday as the president showed off a tanker he claimed had “one million barrels of oil on it” from the country, nine months after deposing its president.

At a campaign rally in Corpus Christ, Texas, Trump touted a US oil deal with Venezuela, which the US attacked in January, capturing its long-serving leader Nicolás Maduro.

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© Photograph: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

© Photograph: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

© Photograph: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Tuesday plan to show off a newly arrived oil tanker filled with Venezuelan crude to be processed in Texas refineries.