On October 10, 2026, the U.S. stock market saw all three major indices closing higher on Friday, with tech stocks rebounding from the previous day’s sell-off. The S&P 500 index closed at 7,811.51 points, nearing the closing record set earlier in the week.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose by 423.37 points, or 0.83%, to close at 51,655.01 points. The S&P 500 index gained 46.15 points, up by 0.59%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index rose by 172.83 points, or 0.64%, to close at 27,366.17 points.
As of the market close on Friday, October 2, the S&P 500 index had accumulated a weekly gain of around 1.15%, while the Dow rose by about 0.93% and the Nasdaq gained approximately 0.64%.
Daniela Hathorn, a senior market analyst at Capital.com, stated on Friday that the U.S. stock market was attempting to recover from the tech-led selloff on Thursday. She mentioned that the sell-off on Thursday was triggered by renewed concerns in the market regarding the valuation of artificial intelligence (AI) related stocks, along with rising oil prices and persistently high U.S. Treasury bond yields.
The S&P 500 index closed at 7,818.93 points on October 6, marking the 28th new record high of the year.
In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury bond rose by 2 basis points on Friday to 5.24%. The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index (VIX), which measures market volatility expectations, dropped to 14.84. New York West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil futures closed at $91.85 per barrel, up by 0.39%.
On the individual stock front, telecom stocks experienced significant declines. T-Mobile US Inc. dropped by 13.27%, AT&T fell by 10.82%, and Verizon declined by 10.14%. Spectrum investment company Grain Management announced on October 8 that it had agreed to sell its national 800MHz spectrum portfolio to SpaceX, pending approval from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).
Amidst market focus on AI valuation, billionaire investor and founder/CEO of Pershing Square Capital Management, Bill Ackman, recently discussed the impact of AI on investment decisions.
Ackman, during an episode of “The Knowledge Podcast” hosted by Shane Parrish, mentioned that when evaluating an investment, he imagines the stock market being closed for 10 years and questions whether he would still be willing to hold that company. He emphasized the importance of examining a company’s revenue and forecasting its trajectory 10 or 20 years down the line.
Ackman highlighted that the emergence of AI makes it easier for traditional businesses to be replaced by new technologies, significantly raising this risk.
He stressed the need to carefully evaluate how wide a company’s moat is in the current landscape, as some enterprises may disappear due to AI.
Ackman also discussed the opportunities brought about by AI, mentioning that Pershing Square has been using AI in investment research. AI also provides potential for businesses that were previously unlikely to emerge and allows non-entrepreneurs to venture into entrepreneurship.
Pershing Square currently holds significant stakes in large tech stocks such as Microsoft, Meta Platforms, and Amazon. Ackman also mentioned the benefits of AI for one of his holdings, Brookfield Corp.