The Big Picture
For three days it looked as if the artificial intelligence trade had found its footing. By Wednesday the S&P 500 had climbed back to 7,757, chip stocks had recovered much of the prior week's slide, and the VIX (the CBOE Volatility Index, a gauge of how much turbulence the market expects over the next 30 days) had fallen to 16.68. Then Thursday undid most of it. Meta's results showed AI spending pushing the company into its first cash outflow in more than a decade, chip stocks had their worst day since June, and the Nasdaq Composite fell 2.6% in a single session. Friday added an oil shock: Brent crude, the international benchmark, settled at $116.72 a barrel, its highest close since April, after Houthi strikes on Saudi Arabia.
The S&P 500 finished the week down 0.5% at 7,623.68, its second weekly loss in a row, and the Nasdaq Composite lost 0.7% to 25,955.34. Away from technology the picture was better. The Russell 2000 (an index of 2,000 smaller US companies) rose 2.0% to 2,775.90, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.4% to 52,215.16, its third straight weekly gain, despite a 653-point drop on Friday. The VIX ended at 19.45, down slightly from 19.99 a week earlier but well above Wednesday's low.