The Closing Bell
Stocks slid into the weekend as a second straight week of hot inflation data collided with monthly options expiration, leaving the S&P 500 (SPY) down 1.1% and the Nasdaq-heavy Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) off 2.5% while oil jumped on fresh Middle East tensions.
The rate story drove everything today.
Treasury yields pushed higher after this week's inflation prints came in stronger than expected, and traders are now pricing a "higher for longer" Fed path. The move hit growth and AI-adjacent names hardest: the small-cap iShares Russell 2000 ETF (IWM) fell 1.7%, while long bonds (TLT) barely budged, up 0.1%, reflecting a market still unsure how far the Fed will go. Regional banks including Citizens Financial, M&T Bank, Regions Financial, Truist and Travelers reported before the bell, adding to a heavy data slate that also included today's Industrial Production read.
Tech and AI infrastructure took the brunt of the selloff.
The VanEck Semiconductor ETF is down 8% this week alone, its worst since July, as credit concerns around the AI buildout resurface. Western Digital (WDC) dropped 6.9% despite Wells Fargo staying Overweight, Taiwan Semiconductor (TSM) slid 2.3% even as Barclays raised its price target on bullish agentic-AI capex commentary, and CoreWeave (CRWV) cratered 11.9% on the day and roughly 20% on the week, though JPMorgan called the reaction overdone. Fiber-optic, data-center and power-infrastructure names (Ciena, Coherent, Vertiv, Oklo among them) all fell in sympathy as higher financing costs cloud the AI capex outlook. Adding fuel, SemiAnalysis flagged Nvidia allegedly pressuring neoclouds to stay exclusive by blocking AMD and TPU users from GTC Berlin, while Super Micro finally named a CFO nearly two years after its accounting review began.
Geopolitics pushed oil and hit travel stocks.
Reports that Iran put its armed forces on 72-hour high alert, paired with an attempted Houthi strike on Saudi Arabia's Yanbu port and another vessel hit near the Strait of Hormuz, sent the United States Oil Fund (USO) up 2.8%. Energy names rallied while airlines absorbed the fuel-cost hit: American Airlines (AAL) fell 3.4% and Alaska Air (ALK) dropped 3.8% after UBS trimmed both price targets.
Single names moved on their own news.
ManpowerGroup (MAN) tumbled 5.2% as analysts slashed forecasts following weak Q3 results. Tesla (TSLA) gave back 2.1%, erasing an early pop from its Roadster unveiling once investors focused on a 2028 ship date. Palantir slipped without a clear catalyst, and space names fell as Rocket Lab's Neutron delay rippled across the group, dragging AST SpaceMobile (ASTS) down 8.6%.
After the bell and tomorrow:
Watch for follow-through on the semiconductor unwind and yield direction into next week, when the FAA is expected to approve Boeing's 737 MAX 10. Expect expiration-related volatility to linger into Monday's open.
Bottom line: sticky inflation and rising yields are forcing a painful reset in AI-linked tech, while Middle East risk keeps energy and oil bid, a combination that's pressuring nearly every corner of the market at once.