The S&P 500's 5-month run of gains came to an end in October, as the month closed on a down note.

The large-cap index fell 1.0% from the end of September, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 1.3% and the small-cap Russell 2000 dropped 1.5% during the month.

The pullback comes after the S&P 500 hit an all-time high during October, as markets had largely been sustained by the expectation that the US Federal Reserve will keep lowering benchmark interest rates and the US economy is poised to avoid a recession. While those factors are still in play, earnings results from Big Tech players that dominate the index's weighting disappointed investors and sent shares lower for companies including Meta Platforms Inc., NVIDIA Corp. and Microsoft Corp.

Sectors

All but three of the S&P 500's 11 market sectors fell in October.

The healthcare sector performed the worst, dropping 4.73% during the month. Just 14 of the sector's 62 stocks rose during the month, while companies including Elevance Health Inc. and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. recorded the largest share price losses.

The financials sector, meanwhile, reported the largest sector-level gain in October at 2.55%. Within the sector, 49 of the 72 constituent stocks rose, with the largest gains recorded for Raymond James Financial Inc. and Wells Fargo & Co.

– Set email alerts for future Data Dispatch articles. – For further global market analysis, try the Market View Excel template. – Read some of the day's top news and insights from S&P Global Market Intelligence.

Largest gains, drops

United Airlines Holdings Inc. was the best-performing S&P 500 stock in October, jumping 37.2% from the end of September. The airline reported better-than-expected earnings on Oct. 15 and announced a new $1.5 billion share repurchase program.

Meanwhile, shares in radio-frequency chipmaker Qorvo Inc. fell the most of any S&P 500 company during October, with a 31.0% drop. While Qorvo beat earnings expectations in its end-of-month report, earnings guidance for its current quarter disappointed investors.