Wall Street falls as geopolitics and AI worries curb risk appetite

New York stock exchanges closed lower on Friday, October 23, 2026, driven by rising oil prices from escalating Middle East tensions and persistent concerns over artificial intelligence investment. The Dow Jones fell 1.24% to 52,214.63 points, the S&P 500 dropped 0.52% to 7,623.68, and the Nasdaq declined 0.21% to 25,955.34. The Nasdaq briefly recovered from weekly losses caused by disappointing big tech results and investment plans, but soon reversed course. Meta continued falling 0.96% after Thursday's nearly 7% plunge, while CoreWeave lost over 2% following a 10% drop. Energy stocks gained 2.51% alongside oil prices, with Chevron and ExxonMobil rising 2.88% and 2.79% respectively. For the week, the Dow gained 0.41%, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq fell 0.47% and 0.71%. Capital Economics noted most S&P 500 companies have ignored tech declines due to lower Treasury yields, but expects further drops if capital expenditure worries grow. SpaceX rose 1.89% on news of negotiating access to 80,000 phone towers, while telecom stocks like AT&T fell 7.94%.