Tech Stocks Drop, Leading to a Losing Week

The worst week for big technology stocks since the COVID crash in 2020 dragged Wall Street on Friday across the finish line of another losing week.

• The S&P 500 fell 43.89 points, or 0.9%, to 4,967.23, ending its third straight down week.
• The Dow rose 211.02 points, or 0.6%, to 37,986.40.
• The Nasdaq fell 319.49 points, or 2%, to 15,282.01.

The market's worst performers included several stocks that had been its biggest stars, the AP reports. Super Micro Computer lost more than a fifth of its value, dropping 23.1%. The company, which sells server and storage systems used in AI and other computing, had soared nearly 227% for the year coming into the day. Nvidia, another stock that has surged to dizzying heights due to Wall Street's frenzy around artificial intelligence technology, also gave up some of its big recent gains. It slumped 10% and was the heaviest single weight on the S&P 500, by far, because of its huge size. Tech stocks in the S&P 500 broadly lost 7.3% this week for their worst performance since March 2020, as some global giants reported discouraging trends.

The larger threat was a dawning, dispiriting acknowledgement sweeping Wall Street that interest rates may stay high for longer. Top Fed officials said this week that they could hold interest rates at their high level for a while. That's a letdown for traders after the Fed had signaled earlier that three cuts to interest rates could be possible this year. High rates hurt prices for all kinds of investments. Some of the ones hit hardest tend to be those seen as the most expensive and which make investors wait the longest for big growth, which can make tech stocks vulnerable.

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