Stock market today: Falling tech stocks drag Wall Street to the finish line of another week of losses | National News

NEW YORK (`) — The worst week for big technology stocks since the COVID crash of 2020 pushed Wall Street over the finish line of another losing week. The S&P 500 fell 0.9% on Friday, ending its third straight week of losses. The Nasdaq Composite fell 2%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, which relies less on technology, was an outlier, rising 0.6%. Among the market's worst performers were several stocks that were once its biggest stars. Super Micro Computer lost more than a fifth of its value. Nvidia was the heaviest weight in the S&P 500.

This is a recent update. `'s earlier story follows below.

NEW YORK (`) — One of the worst weeks for big tech stocks since the COVID crash of 2020 takes Wall Street to the finish line of its latest losing week on Friday.

The S&P 500 lost 1% in late trading, on track for its third straight week of losses. That would be the longest such streak since September, before a rampage that led to a string of records this year.

The Nasdaq Composite fell 2.2% as of 3 p.m. Eastern Time. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, which relies less on technology, was an outlier, rising 134 points, or 0.4%.

Among the stock market's worst performers were several stocks that until recently were the biggest stars. Super Micro Computer lost more than a fifth of its value, down 22.2%. The company, which sells server and storage systems for AI and other computing applications, reported a 226% increase in year-to-date revenue.

Nvidia, another stock that has surged on Wall Street's excitement around artificial intelligence technology, also gave up some of its big recent gains, falling 8.7%. Due to its enormous size, it was the heaviest individual weight in the S&P 500.

Tech stocks in the S&P 500 have lost a total of 7% this week as a discouraging realization dawns on Wall Street that interest rates will remain high for much longer.

Top Fed officials said this week that they could keep interest rates at their high levels for a while. That's a disappointment for traders after the Fed previously signaled three rate cuts could be possible this year. High interest rates weigh on the price of investments, especially those considered the most expensive, making investors wait the longest for big growth and increasing the risk of a recession.

After inflation cooled sharply last year, it already seemed that lower interest rates were on the horizon. But a series of reports this year showing inflation has remained higher than expected has raised concerns about stagnant progress.

Fed officials are adamant they want to see additional evidence that inflation is falling toward its 2 percent target before cutting the Fed's key interest rate, which is at its highest level since 2001.

According to CME Group data, traders are largely forecasting just one or two rate cuts this year, compared to six or more expected at the start of the year. A growing number expect zero cuts this year.

But Brian Jacobsen, chief economist at Annex Wealth Management, expects inflation to moderate as U.S. households, which have become “hypersensitive to price increases” from companies, begin to curb spending.

“The huge, sucking sound of optimism (escape) from the market is due to the Fed's lack of foresight and irrational focus on where inflation has been rather than where it is going,” he said.

With interest rates unlikely to be of much help in the short term, companies are under even greater pressure to grow profits, the other lever that helps set stock prices

Netflix fell 9% despite reporting higher-than-expected profit for its latest quarter. Analysts called it a largely solid performance, but the streaming giant disappointed some investors by saying it would no longer provide updates on its subscriber numbers every three months starting next year.

Helping to limit market losses was American Express, which rose 5.4%. The company reported higher profit than analysts expected for its latest quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp rose 5.5% after also beating expectations.

In the oil market, a barrel of Brent crude fell to $87.29 after briefly rising above $90 overnight on worries about fighting in the Middle East. Iranian troops fired anti-aircraft missiles at a major air base and a nuclear site during an apparent Israeli drone strike, raising concerns in the market. But crude oil prices pared their big gains as traders wondered how Iran would respond.

In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to 4.61% from 4.64% late Thursday, paring its weekly gain. It had fallen more sharply overnight as concerns grew about a possible escalating war in the Middle East, but it pared its losses throughout the day.

In overseas markets, stock indexes were mixed in Europe after falling more sharply in Asia.

Japan's Nikkei 225 fell 2.7%. The country's inflation rate slowed in March and investors are waiting for the Bank of Japan's next move after it raised its key interest rate for the first time in 17 years last month, according to a report.

` writers Matt Ott and Zimo Zhong contributed.

Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.