Stocks saw their steepest decline in months on Thursday. The S&P 500 fell more than 1.4 percent — its largest daily decline since July — and the technology-heavy Nasdaq slumped nearly 2.5 percent, its biggest one-day fall since June, the New York Times reported. The driver, in the Times’ account: worries about artificial intelligence — its valuations and its spending. Meta fell 7 percent on Thursday; Nvidia lost 4.5 percent and Tesla 3 percent.
Friday brought a second down day, on different fuel: oil. West Texas Intermediate crude climbed 4 percent to about $103.60 a barrel after Iran warned that renewed strikes by the United States and Israel would set off a wider response across the Persian Gulf. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 653 points — 1.2 percent — to 52,215.16. The S&P 500 lost 0.5 percent, to 7,623.68, and the Nasdaq 0.2 percent, to 25,955.34. Energy and information technology were the only S&P sectors to finish in the green, and some of Thursday’s A.I. casualties bounced: memory-chip shares rebounded, and CrowdStrike rose more than 8 percent as the week’s PHP security flaw focused attention on cybersecurity.
The two days, in brief
- Thursday: S&P 500 −1.4% (worst since July); Nasdaq −2.5% (worst since June); Meta −7% on A.I. worries
- Friday: Dow −653 points (−1.2%) to 52,215.16; S&P −0.5% to 7,623.68; Nasdaq −0.2% to 25,955.34
- Oil: WTI crude +4% to about $103.60 a barrel on U.S.–Iran escalation threats
- The week: Dow +0.4% (third straight weekly gain); S&P −0.5%; Nasdaq −0.7%; Russell 2000 +2%
For the week, the Dow ended 0.4 percent higher — its third straight weekly gain — while the S&P 500 finished 0.5 percent lower and the Nasdaq 0.7 percent lower. The small-cap Russell 2000 gained 2 percent, snapping a six-week losing streak.
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