The sell-off for tech stocks deepens and drags Wall Street toward its worst day since June

NEW YORK (AP) — A sell-off for tech stocks is worsening on worries that Wall Street’s frenzy around AI sent prices too high. The S&P 500 dropped 2.1% Friday and is heading toward its worst day since June. The Nasdaq composite fell 3.4%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 634 points. Intel’s stock led the way downward and is flirting with its worst day in history. Amazon is also falling following its latest profit report. Much of the U.S. market outside of tech stocks held up better. Treasury yields sank as investors searched for safer things to own, even though oil prices rose.

Amazon offers cautious view after disappointing 3Q results but delivers strong cloud growth

NEW YORK (AP) — Amazon offered a cautious sales outlook for the current fourth quarter that encompasses the critical holiday shopping period after delivering fiscal third-quarter results that came in below Wall Street analysts’ expectations. The Seattle-based company, however, posted strong growth in its prominent cloud computing unit. Sales in the cloud computing unit, called Amazon Web Services, or AWS, rose 39.3% during the latest quarter ending Sept. 30, higher than the 37% clip during the previous quarter. The company said it marked the fastest growth rate in nearly five years.

Europe's economy brushes off energy shock from Iran war, shows moderate growth in Q3

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Europe’s economy persevered with moderate growth in the third quarter despite higher oil prices from the US-Iran war, as gross domestic product increased by 0.4% over the quarter before. The figure released Friday for the 21-country eurozone was better than the 0.2% expected by market analysts. Compared to the same quarter a year ago, the economy of the 21 countries using the euro grew by 1.3% in the July-September period, according to EU statistics agency Eurostat.

ExxonMobil and Chevron top Q3 estimates on higher prices and strong output

ExxonMobil and Chevron both reported better than expected quarterly results Friday as the oil majors benefited from higher prices and record production. Besides the disruption caused by the wars in Iran and Ukraine that have driven up the cost of fuel, Exxon is also seeing strong production in its fields in Guyana and the Permian Basin in the Southwest. Chevron said its results include one month of production in Venezuela where it’s making a big investment.

Frances Tiafoe supports young tennis players' careers while still building his own

Frances Tiafoe may still be waiting for his first Grand Slam championship, but the American tennis star has already celebrated a meaningful career milestone. His Frances Tiafoe Fund, which supports tennis programs for young people in underresourced communities, recently passed $1 million in funds raised, only three years after its launch. Tiafoe, who made his third trip in the past five years to the U.S. Open semifinals this summer, first started playing tennis when he was 4 years old at the Junior Tennis Champions Center in College Park, Maryland. His father was the center’s head of maintenance after immigrating from Sierra Leone in 1996.

Starbucks says US sales remain a bright spot as quarterly revenue falls short of forecasts

Strong U.S. demand pumped up Starbucks’ results in its fiscal fourth quarter, but the coffee giant still fell short of revenue expectations. The Seattle coffee giant said global same-store sales rose 7.2% for the July-September period, which was higher than the 6% increase Wall Street was expecting, according to analysts polled by FactSet. That was largely due to strong demand in the U.S., where same-store sales jumped 7.7%. International same-store sales rose less than 1%, and Starbucks noted a 2.8% decline in international store traffic. Net revenue fell 4% for the quarter to $9.1 billion. Starbucks said that was mostly due to the transfer of its China business to a joint venture.

Dockworkers worldwide strike against arms shipments and to demand better working conditions

PARIS (AP) — Dockworkers are staging strikes as part of an international campaign against arms shipments and to demand better working conditions. Unions in countries like France, Italy, Greece, Spain, Turkey, and Morocco are calling for an end to the militarization of ports. They say more than 100 ports are participating, which could affect operations in Europe, North Africa, and North America. The scale of disruption remains unclear, but experts expect limited impact on the global supply chain. They say the strikes add complexity to supply chains already under pressure from geopolitical tensions and climate-related events.

European Central Bank head resigns, allowing EU leaders to choose successor before French election

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde will resign nine months before her term ends. The ECB announced Thursday that Lagarde will leave on February 7. Her departure opens the way for European leaders to choose a successor ahead of France's presidential election next year. Lagarde's resignation is expected to lead to complex political negotiations over her successor and replacements for two other top officials leaving next year. The ECB president leads the bank's governing council, which sets interest rates for the 21 countries using the euro. European Council President Antonio Costa said the selection process will proceed without delay.

DoorDash offers $17 billion for Instacart in what would be a big consolidation for grocery delivery

DoorDash is offering $17 billion to buy Instacart to supercharge its grocery delivery business in what would be a big consolidation in grocery delivery. DoorDash said the Instacart brand name and app will remain, and Instacart shoppers can continue fulfilling orders for Instacart. Instacart customers will now have access to 50,000 additional stores covered by DoorDash. Instacart, founded in 2012, specializes in grocery and convenience store delivery in the U.S. and Canada. DoorDash was founded a year later as a restaurant delivery business but expanded to grocery delivery in 2020.

Polymarket paused international trading after a security issue involving a third-party provider

Polymarket temporarily halted trading on its international platform Thursday due to a security incident involving a third-party provider. Trading resumed after about an hour. The prediction market platform paused trading "out of an abundance of caution" after identifying the issue, which it says has since been fixed. The company has promised to fully reimburse all affected traders. Polymarket referred the incident to law enforcement in the United Kingdom. Reports have linked the source of the incident to DebugBear, a UK-based company offering website performance monitoring tools. DebugBear said Thursday it was experiencing a security incident and it advised clients to remove certain embed codes.