# Dow falls 650 points to end the week as American Express says it will cut about 5% of jobs

Business & Markets · 23 October 2026 · New York, United States
URL: https://connectthedots.news/event/2026-10-23-dow-falls-650-points-to-end-the-week-as-american-express-says-it-will

> The Dow lost 1.23% on Friday as oil hit a six-month high, while American Express said it would cut about 5% of its workforce to become leaner and "prepare for AI".

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 652.80 points, or 1.23%, to 52,215.20 on Friday 23 October, while the S&P 500 slipped 0.52% to 7,623.68 and the Nasdaq Composite lost 0.21% to 25,955.34, according to Yahoo Finance. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq posted a second straight weekly loss, while the Dow still ended the week higher. [1]

Yahoo Finance said selling spread beyond AI stocks as Brent crude settled at $116.72 a barrel, a six-month high, on fears of escalation in the Middle East. Airlines including United, Delta and American fell on fuel-cost worries, and the 10-year Treasury yield rose but stayed below 5%. [1]

Dow member American Express fell about 3% after announcing, alongside third-quarter results, that it would cut about 5% of its global workforce and take a $336 million restructuring charge. Banking Dive put the cuts at about 3,500 jobs, while Canadian HR Reporter, citing CNBC, put them at roughly 3,800 based on about 77,000 employees at the end of 2025. [1][2][3]

Chief financial officer Christophe Le Caillec said the aim was to make the company "leaner, more agile, and also to prepare for AI", and chief executive Stephen Squeri said it needed to become "a more agile and efficient organization". Squeri also said more AI agents would be introduced into its commercial-card platform as it competes with Brex and Ramp. [2][3]

The quarter itself was strong: net income rose 28% to $3.71 billion and revenue rose 9% to about $20 billion, according to Banking Dive, and the company raised its full-year earnings-per-share guidance to $18.30 to $18.60. The cuts follow Barclays' plan, announced a day earlier, to cut about 5,000 jobs. [2][3]

## Who was involved

- [American Express](https://connectthedots.news/org/american-express): Announced cuts of about 5% of its global workforce [2][3]
- [Stephen Squeri](https://connectthedots.news/person/stephen-squeri): Said the company needed to become more agile and efficient [1][2]
- [Christophe Le Caillec](https://connectthedots.news/person/christophe-le-caillec): Said the cuts would make the company leaner and prepare it for AI [3]
- [Nasdaq](https://connectthedots.news/org/nasdaq): Nasdaq Composite fell 0.21%, a second weekly loss [1]
- [Barclays](https://connectthedots.news/org/barclays): Announced about 5,000 job cuts a day earlier [3]

## Linked stories

- Related to: [Barclays to cut about 5,000 jobs as it leans more on AI](https://connectthedots.news/event/2026-10-22-barclays-to-cut-about-5-000-jobs-as-it-leans-more-on-ai) (22 October 2026)

## Sources

1. Yahoo Finance, "Stock market today: Dow sinks 600 points, S&P 500, Nasdaq drop to cap a volatile week, oil prices rise", 23 October 2026: https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/live/stock-market-today-friday-october-23-dow-sp-500-nasdaq-tesla-meta-093000521.html
2. Banking Dive, "Amex to cut roughly 3,500 employees", 23 October 2026: https://www.bankingdive.com/news/amex-american-express-cut-3500-employees-ai-squeri/833861/
3. Canadian HR Reporter, "Amex to cut 5 per cent of workforce 'to prepare for AI'", 23 October 2026: https://www.hrreporter.com/news/hr-news/amex-to-cut-5-per-cent-of-workforce-to-prepare-for-ai/395071