Markets
Nasdaq and S&P 500 Rebound While Dow Slips as Wall Street Closes a Bruising Week for AI Stocks
Image: PredragKezic via Pixabay
A partial recovery from Thursday's rout left the Dow lower on the day and the S&P 500 down for the week, with chip names bouncing hardest.
By Emma Cruz ·
Wall Street staged a partial recovery on Friday after Thursday's artificial-intelligence-driven rout, but the rebound was uneven. The Nasdaq Composite and S&P 500 finished higher while the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped, and the week still ended in the red for the broad market.
According to Yahoo Finance's market data shortly after the 4 p.m. ET close, the Nasdaq Composite rose 1.09% to 24,579.42 and the S&P 500 gained 0.31% to 7,376.86. The Dow fell 237.33 points, or 0.46%, to 51,285.73, and the small-cap Russell 2000 added 0.89% [1]. Those closing gains were far smaller than the ones recorded earlier in the session. The Associated Press reported that, around midday, the S&P 500 was up 0.9% and the Nasdaq up 1.6%, meaning buyers faded as the afternoon progressed [2].
The week's damage was concentrated in technology. The AP said the S&P 500 was down 2.1% for the week at midday and about 5.1% below its record high set last month [2]. Yahoo Finance reported that the technology sector fund XLK lost roughly 7% over the week, while the energy sector fund XLE fell about 11%, a reflection of the slide in oil prices after the midterm elections [1]. Thursday's plunge, the AP noted, was the worst U.S. session since the April 2025 tariff announcement, and Yahoo Finance said about $3 trillion in market value was erased that day as the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index fell 12% [1][2].
Chip and AI-infrastructure shares led Friday's bounce after those steep losses. Yahoo Finance's market widgets showed Advanced Micro Devices up 10.25% and Nvidia up 3.25%, with AMD having dropped 17% the day before [1]. The AP reported that Lam Research climbed 9.9% after announcing a buyback of up to $25 billion, Micron rose 5.9%, CoreWeave gained 4.5% and IREN jumped 19.5% after beating earnings expectations and announcing two new contracts [2]. The rebound did not extend to every earnings reporter, though: the AP said Axon Enterprise dropped 17.6% on weaker-than-expected results and a $1.2 billion investment in the drone maker Skydio, while Charter Communications fell 5% after reporting a loss when analysts had expected a profit [2].
The selling was global. The AP reported that stocks in Tokyo and Seoul each fell about 6% on Friday, and Germany's DAX lost 2% [2]. Volatility cooled somewhat in the United States, with the VIX index down 9.02% to 25.64 in Yahoo Finance's data, though it remains elevated [1].
The macro backdrop complicated the picture. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that nonfarm payrolls rose by 165,000 in October with the unemployment rate at 4.1% [3]. The AP said the stronger hiring raised the odds, per CME Group data, that the Federal Reserve raises interest rates in December, and that the 10-year Treasury yield stood at 4.85% [2]. Higher rates tend to pressure richly valued growth stocks, which helps explain why the rebound was narrower than the sell-off that preceded it.
For the week ahead, the questions center on whether buyers keep stepping in on technology shares and how far the rate outlook moves. Yahoo Finance flagged several items on investors' radar: the possibility of a December rate hike, Goldman Sachs estimates that about 45% of planned U.S. data center capacity could face restrictions under newly elected state governors, and the risk of renewed escalation in the Middle East war that has driven energy prices [1]. Whether Friday's recovery marks a durable low or a pause in a longer repricing of AI-related expectations is not something Friday's trading could settle.
Sources:
[1] Yahoo Finance, "Stock market today: Nasdaq and S&P 500 rebound, Dow slips to cap bruising week for AI stocks", November 6, 2026. https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/live/stock-market-today-friday-november-6-dow-sp-500-nasdaq-jobs-report-earnings-135953863.html
[2] The Associated Press (via The Korea Times), "AI stocks halt brutal, worldwide sell-off as Wall Street trims its loss for the week", November 6, 2026. https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/world/20261107/ai-stocks-halt-brutal-worldwide-sell-off-as-wall-street-trims-its-loss-for-the-week
[3] U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, "The Employment Situation: October 2026", November 6, 2026. https://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.htm
This article was produced with AI assistance. It is for informational purposes only and is not financial advice. StockVolt and its authors may hold positions in securities mentioned.