The S&P 500 Index dropped on Friday to cap its biggest weekly loss since June, as a spike in crude prices renewed inflation fears while worries about the viability of the artificial intelligence trade pressured chipmakers.
The stocks benchmark sank 1.1%. A wipeout in the shares of cloud-computing services provider CoreWeave Inc. accelerated the rout in tech stocks, sending the Nasdaq 100 Index down 2.5% on Friday for its worst week since April 2025.
Adding to concerns, Brent oil hit $110 a barrel for the first time since May as prospects for imminent supply relief dwindle, exacerbating worries about price pressures after two separate gauges showed that US inflation rose more than expected. Energy shares were the best S&P group on Friday, soaring 2.47%, with ExxonMobil Holdings Corp. jumping 2.46% while Chevron Corp. rose 2.59%.
“The AI trade has found itself in everything from the stock market to debt markets and inflation figures, all things that have spooked traders this week,” said John Cunnison, chief investment officer at Baker Boyer Bank. “The market is just waking up to whether the AI profit engine is durable.”.
The Philadelphia Stock Exchange Semiconductor Index, which includes chip bellwethers like Nvidia Corp., Micron Technology Inc. and Advanced Micro Devices Inc., sank 3.8%, its eighth straight session of losses. That’s the gauge’s longest losing streak since 2006. The Cboe Volatility Index hovered at 19.99 — a level that signals growing market stress.