Wall Street's feverish rally takes a break as US stocks and gold pull
back from their records
[October 10, 2025] By
STAN CHOE
NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street took a pause on Thursday as U.S. stocks and
even the price of gold pulled back from record highs following torrid
runs.
The S&P 500 slipped 0.3% from its latest all-time high for just its
second loss in the last 10 days. The Dow Jones Industrial Average
dropped 243 points, or 0.5%, and the Nasdaq composite edged down by
0.1%.
Gold also fell following its stellar rally this year, losing 2.4% to
drop back below $4,000 per ounce, while Treasury yields held relatively
steady in the bond market. They’re taking a moment following big runs
driven in large part by expectations that the Federal Reserve will cut
interest rates to support the economy.
Financial markets have been climbing so relentlessly, including a 35%
leap for the S&P 500 from a low in April, that worries are rising that
prices may have shot too high and become too expensive. Concerns are
particularly strong about the frenzy lifting stocks related to
artificial-intelligence technology.
Dell Technologies sank 5.2% for the biggest loss in the S&P 500, but
that only trimmed its surge since talking up its AI growth opportunities
at an investment conference earlier in the week. The stock is still up
nearly 11% for the week so far.
Tesla also weighed on the market after falling 0.7%. The National
Highway Traffic Safety Administration opened a preliminary evaluation of
its “Full Self-Driving” system due to safety concerns.
Those losses helped offset a 4.3% ascent for Delta Air Lines, which
reported a stronger profit for the summer than analysts expected.
Delta also gave a forecasted range for profit during the year's final
three months whose midpoint topped analysts’ estimates. Its president,
Glen Hauenstein, highlighted a broad-based acceleration in sales trends
over the last six weeks, including for business travel domestically.
Such reports from companies are taking on more significance, offering
windows into the strength of the economy. That’s because the U.S.
government’s shutdown is delaying reports that would clearly show how
the overall economy is doing. This is the second week where the U.S.
government has not published its update on unemployment claims, for
example, a report that usually helps guide Wall Street’s trading each
Thursday.
PepsiCo rose 4.2% after delivering a better profit for the latest
quarter than analysts expected, saying momentum improved for its drinks
business in North America.
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John O'Hara works on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange in New
York, Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
 Delivering bigger profits is one of
two ways that companies can make their stock prices look less
expensive following their big rallies. The other is if their stock
prices fall.
Akero Therapeutics leaped 16.3% after Novo Nordisk, the Danish
company behind the Wegovy weight-loss drug, said it would buy the
drug developer based in South San Francisco, California. The price
tag could reach $5.2 billion if Akero’s lead product candidate wins
federal regulatory approval.
MP Materials, a company that mines and processes rare earths in
California, rose 2.4% after China announced curbs on its exports of
the materials, which are critical for the making of everything from
consumer electronics to jet engines.
Costco Wholesale climbed 3.1% after the retailer said its revenue
rose 8% in September from a year earlier.
All told, the S&P 500 fell 18.61 points to 6,735.11. The Dow Jones
Industrial Average dropped 243.36 to 46,358.42, and the Nasdaq
composite slipped 18.75 to 23,024.63.
In stock markets abroad, indexes were mixed in Europe after Italy’s
Ferrari tumbled 15.4% following the release of financial forecasts
that some analysts said were below their expectations.
Stocks in Shanghai leaped 1.3% after trading resumed there following
a holiday.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 jumped 1.8% for another one of the world’s bigger
moves. Technology giant SoftBank Group surged 11.4% after announcing
a $5.4 billion deal for the robotics unit of Swiss engineering firm
ABB.
In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury edged up to
4.14% from 4.13% late Wednesday.
___
AP Writers Teresa Cerojano and Matt Ott contributed.
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