Market Volatility Soars Ahead Of Elections, Tech Earnings Mixed, Strikes And Hurricanes Knock Employment Down: This Week In The Markets

The U.S. stock market experienced a setback at the end of October, breaking a five-month winning streak as election uncertainties and mixed tech earnings dampened risk sentiment.

A key measure of market turbulence, the CBOE Volatility Index, or VIX, surged by 34% last month, marking the third-largest increase for an October in an election year.

Tech giants' earnings were underwhelming, except for Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) and Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN). None of the other “Magnificent Seven” companies posted positive weekly performance. As a result, the Roundhill Magnificent Seven ETF (NASDAQ:MAGS) fell nearly 2% for the week. This marks the worst weekly performance in two months.

Among mega-cap companies, the top performers for the week were Charter Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:CHTR) and Booking Holdings ...