Finance

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite dropped 1.9%, marking its most severe single-day decline in nearly three months. Investors aggressively sold off artificial intelligence and semiconductor stocks as rising yields and the potential for a Federal Reserve rate hike threatened to increase the borrowing costs required to fund extensive AI data infrastructure.

Bank of America's stock faced downward pressure after reporting third-quarter earnings that missed analyst projections. The performance was further compounded by a $1.2 billion penalty from the U.S. Treasury Department over alleged anti-money laundering and sanctions compliance failures.

Digital assets experienced notable downward momentum as the macroeconomic shift dented investor risk appetite. Bitcoin fell by more than 1% to hover around the $82,000 threshold, while broader crypto-linked equities also pulled back sharply in response to the wider market volatility.