Two of Wall Street’s best-known gauges finished October in opposite directions. The Dow finished October at 51,770.31, its close on Friday, Oct. 30, the last trading day of the month, above its Sept. 30 close of 50,906.05. The Nasdaq composite ended the month at 25,437.00, down from 26,861.06 on Sept. 30.
Measured from those closes, the Dow gained 864.26 points, or about 1.7%, over October, while the Nasdaq lost 1,424.06 points, or about 5.3%. A retirement fund’s October result depended heavily on its mix: one weighted toward the large industrial and blue-chip names the Dow tracks finished ahead, and one leaning on tech, closer to the Nasdaq, finished behind.
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How did October split the market?
October began from a soft base for the Dow. On Sept. 30 it fell 443.87 points, or 0.9%, and it ended that week down 1.8%, according to the AP’s table for the day. The Nasdaq, by contrast, rose 63.52 points on Sept. 30 and entered October near its high for the period.
The Dow’s 864.26-point gain came despite a hard final session. On Friday it fell 572.25 points, or 1.1%, and it ended the week down 0.9%, according to the Associated Press’s closing table.
The Nasdaq’s slide was steeper and came mostly late. Daily closes from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis put the composite at 26,549.85 on Oct. 28 and 26,184.72 on Oct. 29. Friday’s 747.73-point drop, or 2.9%, took it the rest of the way to 25,437.00.
Where did the S&P 500 land?
The S&P 500 sat in between. It closed Sept. 30 at 7,651.54 and Oct. 30 at 7,580.07, a loss of 71.47 points, or about 0.9%, for the month. Friday alone cost the index 140.32 points, or 1.8%, its worst day since June.
That Friday followed what the AP described as a tech selloff on worry that enthusiasm for artificial intelligence had pushed prices too high. Intel fell almost 29%, its worst day since 1974, after forecasting profit below analysts’ expectations, and Amazon’s latest profit report sharpened concerns about AI spending.
What happened to the year-to-date gains?
The month also reshuffled the year. On Sept. 30 the Nasdaq was up 15.6% for 2026, the Dow 5.9% and the S&P 500 11.8%, according to the AP’s table that day. After Friday’s close, the Nasdaq was up 9.4%, the Dow 7.7% and the S&P 500 10.7%.
The Nasdaq went from leading the three by a wide margin to trailing the S&P 500, giving back more than six percentage points. The Dow stayed last for the year but narrowed its gap to the S&P 500 from 5.9 points to 3.0. All three are still higher than they were on Jan. 1, so October trimmed gains rather than erasing them.
What did smaller companies do?
The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies lost 47.37 points, or 1.7%, on Friday to close at 2,811.84. It still gained 35.95 points, or 1.3%, for the week and is up 13.3% for 2026, the best year-to-date showing of the four indexes in the AP’s table.
The S&P 500 ended the week down 43.61 points, or 0.6%, the Dow down 444.85 points, or 0.9%, and the Nasdaq down 518.34 points, or 2%. In other words, the final week of October was a losing one for the three big indexes, even as the month as a whole favored the Dow.
How should an October statement be judged?
Account statements for October will show a return that depends on what the account held. A fund that tracks the Dow, one that tracks the S&P 500 and one that tracks the Nasdaq produced three very different months, from roughly plus 1.7% to minus 5.3% on the index closes above, before fees and any dividends.
Matching each account against its own benchmark is the fair way to judge a month, rather than against the headline numbers for the whole market. Cash held outside the market sat out the swing entirely, in both directions, and it is the one part of a statement that did not depend on which index a household happened to follow.
Which side of October’s split holds the money you need soon?
October opened a gap of about seven percentage points between the Dow and the Nasdaq in a single month. Money earmarked for bills, travel or a home repair in the next year gets no say in which side of that gap it lands on if it is invested in stocks.
“Make Your Savings Pay You” is an 11-page guide that covers high-yield savings for the cushion you might need this year and Treasury bills from $100, free of state and local income tax. Its cash map worksheet starts with what your cash earns now, found on your statement in five minutes.
See the cash-map worksheet and Treasury bill steps in the Make Your Savings Pay You guide →
This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.
Warren Cohen is a finance writer based in Phoenix, Arizona, covering personal finance topics including credit, banking, and beginner investing. He earned his degree in business administration from Arizona State University and began his career working in consumer finance, where he gained direct experience with lending and credit systems. He now writes for personal finance websites and fintech platforms, focusing on clear, practical content that helps readers make informed financial decisions.
