Why Is Nasdaq 100 Down Today? US100 Drops 5% Toward S2 Support

Market mover Bearish bias Nov 5, 2026, 17:32 UTC

Oliver HayesMarket Risk Analyst · ForexR analyst

US100 is down 5.07% on the day and trading between S2 at 26930.4 and the previous day low at 27493, with daily, four-hour and one-hour trends all pointing lower.

The Move: US100 Drops 5% in a Volatile Session

Nasdaq 100 (US100) is trading at 27053.4 during the New York session, down 1445.8 points, or 5.07%, on the day from the previous close of 28499.2. That decline is roughly 2.2 times the index's average daily range, and the day's range has already reached 1935.3 points, about 307% of the 14-day ATR of 631.2 points. Today's session has swung between a high of 28539 and a low of 26603.7.

The move follows a 1347-point range yesterday (Nov 4), when the index opened at 28314.4, ran between a high of 28840 and a low of 27493, and closed at 28499.2. Over a longer window, US100 is down 8.49% over the past five trading days and 13.15% over the past twenty, underscoring how sharp the past week has been relative to the past month.

What's Driving the Selloff

The newsflow points to a broad reassessment of AI-related spending. Reuters framed the session as a possible correction as investors question the scale of AI capital expenditure, while Bloomberg and Invezz both flagged selling in chipmakers and AI-infrastructure names as a visible feature of the decline. Schwab Network described the day as a bout of AI-driven volatility. Not every read is the same: a separate Bloomberg segment cited a view that yields near 5% look attractive and that Nasdaq could still outperform, a reminder that opinion on the move is not unanimous. These are possible drivers investors are discussing, not confirmed causes of today's price action.

News coverage volume on US100 is running at 183% of its 90-day average, and the opportunity read from media-mood data stands at -91, a bearish reading that reportedly shifted sharply from neutral within the past day. That measures the tone of coverage, not order flow or a price forecast.

The latest CFTC Commitments of Traders data, as of the week to October 27, showed large speculators still net long Nasdaq 100 (US100), though that net long position was trimmed from the prior week. The report predates this week's decline by more than a week, so it describes where positioning stood before the drop rather than a signal for what comes next. US Treasury yields at Tuesday's close (Nov 4) showed the 2-year at 4.58%, down 3 basis points, and the 10-year at 4.90%, down 5 basis points, with the 2s10s curve at 32 basis points — context for the broader rate backdrop, not a cause of the equity move.

Key Levels: Pivots, Supports and Resistance

Price is sitting between S2 at 26930.4 and S1 at 27714.8. The nearest resistance above is the previous day low at 27493, 439.6 points away, and the nearest support below is S2 at 26930.4, just 123 points down. The daily pivot sits higher still at 28277.4, with R1 at 29061.8, R2 at 29624.4 and R3 at 30408.8 further above; S3 sits below at 26367.8. A pivot point calculator can help track how these levels recalculate as the session closes, and the pivot points guide explains how they're derived.

Over the past five trading days, US100 has ranged between a high of 29639.7 and a low of 27493. Over the past twenty trading days, the range widens to a high of 31221.4 and a low of 27493 — the same floor as the five-day window, now tested twice. Daily trend indicators are aligned lower: price sits below the 20-day EMA at 29264.1, the 50-day EMA at 29549.2 and the 200-day EMA at 28041.4, with daily RSI at 38.3. The four-hour and one-hour trends are also both pointing down, so there's no conflict across timeframes today. Given how far today's range has already stretched versus the ATR, the ATR and volatility guide is worth a look for sizing context.

Scenarios: Where US100 Could Go From Here

On the upside, clearing R1 at 29061.8 would open the way toward R2 at 29624.4; that view would be invalidated by a move back below the daily pivot at 28277.4. On the downside, a break under S2 at 26930.4 would open the path to S3 at 26367.8, with the same daily pivot at 28277.4 invalidating that case if price reclaims it. Both paths currently sit on opposite sides of price, with the daily pivot well above the market acting as the dividing line for either scenario.

Bottom Line

US100 is down 5.07% on the day, trading between S2 at 26930.4 and the previous day low at 27493, with daily, four-hour and one-hour trends all pointing lower and no timeframe conflict to soften that read. A heavy slate of US data lands tomorrow, including Nonfarm Payrolls (estimate 65, prior 29), Average Hourly Earnings, the Unemployment Rate and Michigan sentiment data, alongside Fed speeches from Williams and Bowman — all worth tracking on an economic calendar given how much ground US100 has already covered today.