US stocks were mixed on Friday as renewed concerns over artificial intelligence (AI) financing pressures weighed on technology shares, putting the Nasdaq Composite on course for its worst weekly performance since late June.
At 11:52 ET (21:22 GMT), the S&P 500 had fallen 0.4% to 7,711.50 points, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.2% to 52,273.04 points. The technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite declined 1.1% to 26,410.00 points.
For the week, the S&P 500 was down 1.3%, while the Dow was on course to gain more than 1%. The Nasdaq had dropped 3.5%, marking its steepest weekly decline since late June if the losses held.
The latest downturn followed a recovery on Thursday, when all three major indices closed higher after a sell-off driven by concerns about rising debt used to finance the AI boom and persistently high borrowing costs.
Shares in CoreWeave, the AI infrastructure provider whose sharp decline on Wednesday helped trigger a broader sell-off in AI stocks, stabilised but remained under pressure. The company’s shares had fallen more than 15% over the week and dropped nearly 8% on Friday.
Other companies exposed to the AI sector, including Micron Technology, Western Digital and Seagate Technology, were also heading for weekly losses.
Analysts at Vital Knowledge said resistance from capital markets to AI-linked debt and equity remained the biggest market concern, warning that the trend could lead to lower or slower capital expenditure. Companies financing data centre projects primarily through operating cash flow could benefit from the shift, they added.
Investor sentiment was also affected by a Reuters report that some Anthropic investors were lowering their valuation expectations for the AI company’s potential initial public offering (IPO) to around $1.5 trillion, from a previous estimate of $2 trillion.
Anthropic reportedly told investors earlier in the week that its third-quarter revenue had increased by 45% to $16.8 billion, signalling strong demand for its AI tools. However, analysts noted that the pace of revenue growth had slowed compared with the previous quarter.
Fed policy outlook
Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh said persistent inflation remained a common challenge for policymakers globally, although the world economy had proved more resilient than he had anticipated.
Warsh also said the Federal Reserve had withdrawn some monetary policy accommodation at its September meeting but declined to indicate its next move.
Deutsche Bank analysts said markets interpreted the absence of a more hawkish signal positively, with expectations of an October rate increase declining.
Investors were widely expecting the Fed to leave interest rates unchanged at its October 27–28 meeting. Bets on a possible increase had briefly risen earlier in the week following hotter-than-expected consumer price data but subsequently eased.
Markets were instead anticipating another quarter-percentage-point rate increase at the Fed’s final meeting of the year in December.
Corporate earnings and Tesla
Corporate earnings also influenced individual stocks as third-quarter reporting continued.
Alcoa shares gained 8% after the aluminium producer reported third-quarter profit above market expectations, while Truist Financial rose after the commercial bank delivered a better-than-expected income result.
Tesla shares advanced nearly 1% after the electric vehicle maker unveiled a new Roadster featuring rocket-style boosters. The vehicle completed a controlled landing after jumping off a ramp during a closely watched demonstration on Thursday.
