Nasdaq fell 5.3% in October... defensive sectors rose over the past month

The Nasdaq Composite fell 5.3% in October even as healthcare, consumer staples, and utilities sector indexes rose over the past month, as investors rotated out of technology stocks amid concerns over AI spending and financing, CNBC reported. The tech-heavy index is still up about 8.7% year-to-date as of the November 9 close and briefly entered correction territory last week before rebounding, though it has slipped 0.7% so far in November. The divergence matters because it signals a defensive shift in positioning after a long AI-driven rally. Korea's Kospi, heavily weighted toward semiconductors, dropped 16.2% in October and has fallen more than 8% in November, while the MSCI World Information Technology Index lost 7% in October. Watch whether defensive sectors keep outperforming and whether AI-related capital spending and financing headlines trigger further rotation.