of Nasdaq Composite Stocks are expected to end the week lower in trading on Friday, weighed down by widening losses in artificial intelligence stocks as new economic data heightens investors’ concerns about an economic slowdown.
The tech stock ratio fell 0.21% to end at 23,004.54. in contrast, S&P500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average I slowly entered the green. The composite index rose 0.13% to close at 6,728.80, while the 30-stock index rose 74.80 points (0.16%) to settle at 46,987.10. At the day’s lows, the Nasdaq was down 2.1%, while the S&P 500 and Dow were down 1.3%, or more than 400 points (about 0.9%), respectively.
Stocks bounced off their lows after Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York proposed a new plan to Republicans that could help lift the record U.S. government shutdown. The proposal would provide short-term funding for federal projects in exchange for a one-year extension of enhanced Affordable Care Act tax credits.
Amid the economic shutdown, investors are increasingly concerned about the strength of the U.S. economy. A University of Michigan survey found Friday that consumer sentiment is near record lows. The data comes just a day after Challenger, Gray & Christmas reported that October’s layoff announcements reached the highest level for the month in 22 years.
Investors have received little information about economic indicators as the government shutdown continues. The Bureau of Labor Statistics was supposed to release its nonfarm payrolls report on Friday. However, they have not been able to achieve this goal for two consecutive months. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones had expected the report to result in a 60,000-job loss and a rise in the unemployment rate to 4.5%.
The Senate is scheduled to vote Friday on moving forward with the stopgap funding measure passed by the House. The longest federal funding backlog in history threatens economic activity, with a shortage of air traffic controllers, who have been working without pay since October, disrupting flight operations.
Transport Secretary Sean Duffy announced Wednesday that 40 major airports will be cutting flight numbers by 10% starting Friday, potentially impacting between 3,500 and 4,000 flights per day. As of Friday morning, more than 700 U.S. flights had already been canceled.
“No one likes to be in the dark. We’ve been in the dark for a while as far as government data goes, but I think our actions could be further influenced,” Leah Bennett, chief investment strategist at Concurrent Asset Management, told CNBC. “I think this speaks volumes about why valuations continue to fall, at least in the short term.”
Three benchmark indexes ended this week in the red as concerns about rising tech sector valuations and highly concentrated markets persisted. The Nasdaq is down about 3% for the week, its worst five-day performance since the week ending April 4, when the index fell 10%. The S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average each fell more than 1% this week.
Some of the leading artificial intelligence companies were among Friday’s laggards. oracledown nearly 2%. This brings the decline this week to just about 9%. advanced micro devicewhich is down nearly 9% this week, as well as Broadcom, which is down more than 5% this week.
Major AI leaders lost momentum on Thursday. NvidiaAMD, tesla and microsoft This marked a significant decline, weighing on the overall market. Major U.S. stock averages ended the day with declines across the board, especially high-tech stocks. Nasdaq Composite Notably, the Dow 30 ended the day down almost 400 points, down 1.9%.
“There’s been some rotation, and that’s helping value stocks, so I don’t believe the decline in[Magnificent Seven]stocks is that worrisome,” Bennett said, adding, “There’s still spending on AI.”
“I think this AI gathering that we’ve been doing will resume,” she continued. “It’s hard to call it the top, but I don’t think we’re at the end of it.”
