Stocks were lower on Thursday, October 8, 2026, with technology shares doing most of the damage. In The Associated Press’s 2:45 p.m. Eastern report, the Nasdaq Composite was falling more than the S&P 500, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average was close to flat. Coverage from The Associated Press, Reuters, and Charles Schwab tied the decline to three pressures: rising oil prices amid Middle East supply worries, volatile Treasury yields that revived inflation concerns, and losses in large technology and AI-linked stocks.
These are intraday readings taken in the afternoon, not final closing results. The figures below explain what was reported and what the reports do not establish.
The index picture at the 2:45 p.m. snapshot
The table sets the October 8 intraday moves beside the prior session and the year-to-date figures AP reported for October 7, so you can see how much of the day’s weakness was a continuation and how much was new.
| Index | October 8, 2:45 p.m. ET (intraday) | October 7 close move | October 7 level | Year to date through October 7 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| S&P 500 | Down 0.6% | Down 0.2% | 7,801.77 | Up 14% |
| Dow Jones Industrial Average | Down 15 points (less than 0.1%) | Down 341.41 points (0.7%) | 51,179.87 | Up 6.5% |
| Nasdaq Composite | Down 1.4% | Down 0.2% | 27,538.69 | Up 18.5% |
| Russell 2000 | Not stated in AP’s 2:45 p.m. report | Down 1.3% | 2,793.20 | Up 12.5% |
The Nasdaq’s larger decline reflects particular weakness in technology shares, while the Dow was nearly unchanged. That gap is the first clue to the cause: the pressure was concentrated in a small group of large companies rather than spread evenly across the market.
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Driver one: oil and Middle East supply
Oil was the most visible macro force on the day. AP reported Brent crude at $104.49 a barrel, up 4.3%, in its October 8 afternoon report. Brent had approached $106 earlier, dipped, and then turned higher again after remarks about U.S.-Iran discussions. AP described oil as volatile because nobody could say when the conflict with Iran would allow global energy supply to return to normal.
Reuters’ earlier report put Brent above $105 and linked the jump to supply concerns after attacks on shipping in the Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz. The two reports were written at different times, so the prices differ. Use each figure with its own timestamp.
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Why does oil matter to stocks? Market coverage in this period framed higher energy prices as feeding inflation worries. That link is an explanation reporters and investors offered, not a measured effect on any specific index on this day.
Driver two: Treasury yields and inflation worries
Yields were the most confusing part of the session because they did not move in one direction. According to AP, the 10-year Treasury yield rose from 5.28% late Wednesday to 5.35% early Thursday, then fell to 5.23%. Reuters’ early report put the 10-year at 5.34% and described high yields and rising oil as stoking inflation concerns.
The reversal followed a $22 billion 30-year Treasury auction with a high yield of 5.618%. AP said the 30-year yield later fell from 5.73% in the morning to 5.61%. A session described as “yields rose all day” would therefore be inaccurate. A better description is that yields spiked, reversed, and then eased, which is why stocks broadly recovered in parts of the market.
AP quoted Tony Miano, global investment strategy analyst at Wells Fargo Investment Institute: “Higher U.S. Treasury yields are starting to create their own demand, buyers are showing up for the right price.”
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Driver three: technology and AI-linked shares
Technology stocks carried the heaviest losses. According to AP, Nvidia fell 3.1% and was the single heaviest weight on the S&P 500 that day because of its market value. Other names reported in the same account included:
- Broadcom, down 4.7%
- Micron Technology, down 4.5%
- Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. shares trading in the U.S., down 3.5%
AP noted that TSMC reported September growth, yet its shares still fell. That detail matters: a company can post strong operating numbers and still trade lower when investors have already priced in a great deal of growth. AP’s context was that AI-linked companies face pressure to deliver substantial growth after large share-price gains.
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Reuters, citing LSEG, put the expected year-over-year earnings growth for the S&P 500 for the quarter at 30.6%. That figure is an analyst estimate attributed to LSEG through Reuters; the underlying LSEG report was not reviewed directly for this article.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Why a down index does not mean every stock fell
AP reported that easing Treasury yields helped most U.S. stocks rise during the session, including two out of every three S&P 500 companies. The index decline came from losses in a handful of influential technology names. PepsiCo rose 2.7% after quarterly results beat analyst expectations, which illustrates the point.
When you read a headline that says “stocks are down,” check whether it refers to the index, a sector, or the typical stock. Those can point in different directions on the same afternoon.
Context from October 7 and the Federal Reserve
The October 8 move followed a down session on Wednesday, October 7. AP said the S&P 500 had pulled back a day after topping its previous all-time high set in August. Despite that day’s declines, AP reported the indexes were still positive year to date, as the table above shows.
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Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →Schwab’s October 8 morning update said the minutes from the September Federal Reserve meeting showed a range of views. Most policymakers saw another rate increase as needed this year, while some saw a greater need to respond to demand-driven inflation and unanchored inflation expectations. Schwab also reported a futures-implied probability of 17% for an October rate hike on Wednesday afternoon, down from 19% earlier that day. That is a market-implied estimate at one moment, not a Federal Reserve forecast.
Quick Recap
What the reports establish, and what they do not
- Established: the afternoon index levels, the oil and Treasury figures quoted by AP and Reuters, and the named technology declines.
- Not established: a single cause for the index decline. Oil, yields, and technology stocks were all reported as contributors, and the reports do not measure how much each one moved the index.
- Not available here: official final closing levels for October 8. Use an exchange or major wire service for closing data.
How to check a market-move explanation yourself
- Confirm the timestamp. An intraday snapshot can reverse before the close, as the 10-year yield did on this day.
- Match the index to the claim. The Nasdaq, S&P 500, Dow, and Russell 2000 have different compositions and can move differently.
- Look for the reversal. A story that describes only the high point of a yield or oil move may be incomplete.
- Separate reported causes from measured effects. “Investors blamed oil” is a different claim from “oil caused the decline.”
- Check the date of any rate-expectation figure. Market-implied probabilities change through the day and can differ from official Federal Reserve projections.
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