US Stocks Finish Lower Ahead of Heavy Earnings Week and Fed Meeting

US stocks ended lower on Friday, 23 October, as investors looked ahead to a busy week of corporate results and a Federal Reserve policy meeting. The Dow fell more sharply than the technology-heavy Nasdaq.

The S&P 500 closed at 7,623.68, down 0.5%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 1.2% to 52,215.16. The Nasdaq Composite slipped 0.2% to 25,955.34, according to final figures reported by the Associated Press.

Reuters reported that most S&P 500 sectors declined, including consumer staples and financials. Technology shares steadied after Thursday's sell-off, while the energy sector reached a record high.

About one-third of S&P 500 companies are due to report quarterly results in the coming week. Alphabet, Microsoft and Amazon are among them, with investors watching their capital-spending forecasts for signals about investment in artificial intelligence.

The Fed's policy statement is due on Wednesday. Earnings releases and the central bank's guidance are the next scheduled tests for markets; their outcomes are not yet known. Over the week, the S&P 500 lost 0.5% and the Nasdaq 0.7%, while the Dow gained 0.4%.

Sources: Reuters, via MarketScreener; Associated Press: final closing figures; Federal Reserve meeting calendar.

Archival photo: New York Stock Exchange, 2023. Jakub Hałun / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0. Cropped to 16:9 by Morval Universal.