Weekly Stock Market Update | Dow, S&P 500, NASDAQ News – October 12, 2025

This week, US stocks saw a significant downturn amid escalating trade tensions with China and worries of a possible government shutdown. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.9%, dropping over 870 points while the S&P 500 declined roughly 2.7%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite suffered the most, sliding around 3.6%. As a result, around $2 trillion in value was wiped out from the US stock market.

The losses came following President Trump’s renewed tariff threats on Chinese goods. Trump expressed plans to “massively increase” duties on Chinese products, causing market instability and deflating hopes of a near-term easing of trade tensions.

Tech companies, like Nvidia and AMD, were hard hit. Nvidia, which is striving to gain approval to sell a less-advanced AI chip to China, had its shares fall by 5%. AMD stocks, which had lead the recent market rally, sank nearly 8%. The trade tensions also caused significant losses for businesses like Apple and Tesla which shed 3% and 5% respectively.

Investors also showed concerns about prospects for the upcoming earnings season. Largescale banks are expected to start the earnings announcements next week, and analysts predict that increased tariffs may eat into their quarterly revenue.

On the winners’ side, in the midst of fluctuating markets, gold futures have been rallying. The commodity exceeded $4,000 per ounce rate for the first time on Tuesday, indicating investors are turning to gold as a safer alternative to the American dollar.

Overall, it was a turbulent week for the stock market, largely due to geopolitical influences. With the imminent earnings season and ongoing trade war woes, next week’s unfolding could offer a clear direction of where the markets are heading.

US stocks have seen a drop, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite retracting from their fresh all-time highs amidst the ongoing US government shutdown. The S&P 500 dropped 0.28% to 6,735.11, and the Nasdaq fell 0.08% to finish at 23,024.63. Additionally, the Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 243.36 points, or 0.52%, to close at 46,358.42.

Both the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq had performed strongly on Wednesday, setting records, and the Dow had also managed a promising performance, with Nvidia’s contribution – a more than 2% rise – helping to offset losses. Nvidia and software provider Oracle ended the week strongly, moving 2% and 3% higher respectively, overcoming earlier losses following a report concerning challenges Oracle faces in renting out Nvidia chips in its cloud business.

Investors are closely watching the consequences of the government shutdown, as it begins to have tangible impacts such as IRS workforce furloughs and flight delays caused by a shortage of air traffic controllers. Despite this uncertainty, some stocks like Delta Air Lines and Costco had a strong week, pointing to a resilient consumer base.

While Delta Air Lines’ stock saw a 4% jump following better-than-predicted earnings, Costco’s shares rose by 3% after reporting strong September sales numbers. Investors and market observers are closely monitoring these developments to gauge the indirect impacts of an extended government shutdown.