U.S. Stocks Slip as S&P 500 Pulls Back Amid Alphabet’s Sharp Decline; Semiconductor Rebound Offers Silver Lining

U.S. equity markets pulled back on Thursday, with the S&P 500 snapping a three-day winning streak as a sharp drop in Alphabet weighed on broader indexes.

The S&P 500 dropped 0.3%, and the Nasdaq Composite tumbled 1.2% on October 29, 2026, marking its first decline in four days. Alphabet’s (GOOGL) stock plunged roughly 11.8%, steering the tech-heavy index lower, while easing Treasury yields added modest relief in the bond market.

Alphabet’s decline—its steepest since going public—was a dominant factor in the pullback, highlighting the outsized influence of megacap tech names on overall equity performance.

Semiconductor Stocks Stage Rebound

Despite the selling pressure from Alphabet, some areas of the market showed resilience. On Monday, October 26, the Nasdaq led gains among major indexes, rising 0.82%, followed by the S&P 500, Russell 2000 and Dow, as semiconductor companies rallied and Anthropic filed for an IPO. The move provided a lift to tech sentiment, even as communication services lagged.

Chip stocks’ rebound offered investors a counterbalance to Alphabet’s sell-off, reaffirming the sector’s ongoing role as a key bellwether for technology-driven market strength.

What Investors Should Watch

The sharp movement in Alphabet underscores the risks of heavy reliance on mega-cap tech names for driving index performance. Investors will likely focus on upcoming earnings from other major players like Microsoft and Amazon—along with further developments in the semiconductor space, where the rebound could extend if AI and chip demand prospects remain firm.

Markets may also remain sensitive to shifts in bond yields and macroeconomic signals, especially as the Federal Reserve maintains a watchful stance amid inflation concerns.

In short, Thursday’s decline reflects a market caught between big-tech volatility and underlying support from recovery in chip stocks—two forces that are shaping investor sentiment heading into the final stretch of 2026.