U.S. stocks fell Friday as a global technology selloff deepened, driven by concerns that a potential delay to OpenAI's IPO could slow artificial intelligence infrastructure spending.
Losses were broad across the major indexes, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average shedding roughly 278 points, or 0.5%, while the S&P 500 slid 0.7% and the Nasdaq $NDAQ Composite gave back 1%. Both the Nasdaq and S&P 500 are headed for weekly losses, with the Nasdaq down 4.4% through Thursday.
Part of the pressure stemmed from a report that OpenAI may put off its initial public offering until next year, with SpaceX's underwhelming post-debut trading and general turbulence in AI-linked equities cited as reasons for the hesitation. The prospect raised questions about whether infrastructure spending tied to AI development would slow. JPMorgan $JPM Chase, in a note cited by CNBC, said the delay raised concerns about "sustainability of their infrastructure spending given the delay in funding from the capital markets."
Micron $MU Technology stock fell 5%. Advanced Micro Devices and Intel $INTC each retreated as well, falling 4% and 3%, respectively. Oracle $ORCL also moved lower.
Asian markets absorbed especially heavy losses. Tokyo-listed SoftBank Group, one of OpenAI's most prominent investors, cratered more than 12%. Broader regional benchmarks followed: South Korea's Kospi finished down 5.81%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng shed 1.76%, and Japan's Nikkei 225 slid 4.15%. The rout extended into Europe as well, where the pan-European Stoxx 600 fell 1%.
Speaking on CNBC, Julia Hermann of New York Life Investment Management, who serves as global market strategist, pointed to the shift in what is driving markets as a source of concern. Today's leadership from semiconductor and memory chip names, she argued, carries more inherent instability than the Magnificent Seven dominance of recent years — "a structurally more volatile flavor of tech." Compounding that, she said, is a dramatic shift in expectations around Federal Reserve policy: "You have this environment, which is candidly a recipe for volatility."
In the oil market, prices extended their slide, with Brent crude dropping more than 3% to hover around $73 a barrel and drawing closer to the levels seen before the latest round of Middle East hostilities. An Iranian strike on a Singapore-flagged cargo vessel in the Strait of Hormuz had rattled traders the previous session, sending prices swinging before selling pressure took hold again.