US STOCKS-Tech stocks knock down Wall St as coronavirus cases spiral

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* Twitter slumps as user growth disappoints
* Apple, Amazon, Facebook drop after results
* Alphabet rises as businesses resume ad spending
* Indexes down: Dow 1.6%, S&P 1.8%, Nasdaq 2.7%

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By Medha Singh and Shivani Kumaresan
Oct 30 (Reuters) - Wall Street's major indexes tumbled on
Friday, dragged down by a slide in shares of tech heavyweights
following their quarterly results, with a record rise in
coronavirus cases and nerves over the presidential election
adding to a downbeat mood.
The three main indexes were on course for their worst week
since March as spiraling coronavirus cases in the United States
push hospitals to the brink of capacity. The CBOE volatility index .VIX held at a 20-week high
ahead of the final weekend before Election Day on Tuesday.
Apple Inc AAPL.O tumbled about 5.2% after it posted the
steepest drop in quarterly iPhone sales in two years due to the
late launch of new 5G phones. Amazon.com Inc AMZN.O fell 4.1% after it forecast a jump
in costs related to COVID-19, while Facebook Inc FB.O shed
6.2% as it warned of a tougher 2021. Tech .SPLRCT and consumer discretionary .SPLRCD sectors
posted the steepest percentage declines.
Communication services .SPLRCL got a boost from a 3.9%
jump in shares of Alphabet Inc GOOGL.O after the Google parent
beat estimates for quarterly sales as businesses resumed
advertising. "There is a big selloff in those big tech names because they
didn't live up to the hype and people are really worried about
next week's election," said Kim Forrest, chief investment
officer at Bokeh Capital Partners in Pittsburgh.
President Donald Trump has consistently trailed Democratic
challenger Biden in national polls for months, but polls in the
most competitive states have shown a closer race. At 10:52 a.m. ET the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI
fell 423.74 points, or 1.58%, to 26,237.80, the S&P 500 .SPX
lost 59.85 points, or 1.81%, to 3,250.76 and the Nasdaq
Composite .IXIC lost 297.66 points, or 2.65%, to 10,888.81.
The third-quarter earnings season is past its halfway mark,
with about 84.8% of S&P 500 companies topping earnings
estimates, according to Refinitiv data. Overall, profit is
expected to fall 13.4% from a year earlier.
Twitter Inc TWTR.N slumped about 20% after the
micro-blogging site reported fewer users than expected and
warned the U.S. election could impact ad revenue. AbbVie Inc ABBV.N gained 5% after the drugmaker posted
better-than-expected quarterly earnings and raised its full-year
adjusted profit forecast.
Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by a
3.9-to-1 ratio, while on Nasdaq, a 0.3-to-1 ratio favored
advancers.
The S&P 500 posted two new 52-week highs and one new low,
whereas the Nasdaq Composite recorded 12 new highs and 63 new
lows.