The US stock market fell from its records Friday and joined a worldwide drop for stocks after higher oil prices sent a shiver through the bond market. Stocks that had been caught up in the euphoria around artificial intelligence technology led the way lower.
- The Dow fell 537.29 points, or 1.1%, to 49,526.17, dropping 0.2% for the week.
- The S&P 500 fell 92.74 points, or 1.2%, to 7,408.50, ending the week up 0.1%.
- The Nasdaq fell 410.08 points, or 1.5%, to 26,225.14, closing out the week down 0.1%.
Technology stocks tumbled in a sharp turnaround from their meteoric rises for much of the year, which had carried markets worldwide to records but also raised criticism that they had gone too far, the AP reports. Nvidia, the stock that quickly became the face of the AI revolution, dropped 4.4% and was the heaviest weight on the S&P 500. It had come into the day with a gain of more than 26% for the year. Micron Technology was another one of the heaviest weights on the market after falling 6.6%. It's nevertheless still up nearly 154% for the year. "It looks like markets have pushed into overbought territory," said Brian Jacobsen of Annex Wealth Management. He said the strong corporate profits and durable US economy that launched stocks to records remain intact, but "the path is unlikely to be smooth. Periods like this call for discipline more than hope."
In the meantime, rising oil prices are raising the pressure after already worsening inflation by more than economists had feared. The Iran war is continuing, and the Strait of Hormuz remains shut to oil tankers, which is preventing them from delivering crude to customers worldwide and driving up oil's price. The price for a barrel of Brent crude oil, the international standard, rose 3.3% to settle at $109.26 and is well above its level of roughly $70 from before the war.
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