Dow, S&P 500, Nasdaq close mixed to cap a volatile week as Fed cut in doubt-awdailynews

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2025-11-15

Dow, S&P 500, Nasdaq close mixed to cap a volatile week as Fed cut in doubt

US stocks recovered from steep losses on Friday, battling back from Wall Street’s steepest sell-off in over a month as investors await more economic data in the coming days ahead of the Federal Reserve’s next rate decision in December.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) slipped around 0.6%. But the S&P 500 (^GSPC) and the Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) came back from being deeply in the red, with the S&P falling below the flatline, and the Nasdaq gaining 0.1%.

Wall Street’s previous, bruising session saw the major indexes log their steepest one-day declines in over a month. Tech stocks saw their earlier losses shrink mid-morning Friday after AI concerns drove an exodus from riskier assets to less hotly valued sectors. Still, Tesla (TSLA) shares remained under pressure and broke below $400 before going green. Nvidia (NVDA) shares also rebounded to turn positive.

Bitcoin (BTC-USD) also continued to suffer, falling below $96,000 for the first time in over six months. The cryptocurrency is down over 20% from its peak in October.

The mood is unsettled as worries grow that the Federal Reserve will slow its pace of policy easing, given the increasingly hawkish tone taken by its officials. Traders now see less than 50% odds of a quarter-point rate cut next month, down from about 95% a month ago. Minneapolis Fed president Neel Kashkari became the latest to lose appetite for rate cuts as he flagged “resilience” in the US economy and continued concerns over inflation.

Policymakers lack insight into price pressures as well as the jobs market after the record six-week federal shutdown. On Friday the Bureau of Labor Statistics said the September jobs report will be released next Thursday, Nov 20.

In a nod to price pressures, President Trump is preparing to make substantial cuts to tariffs to bring down high food costs, a concern for voters in recent state and local elections. Several trade deals with Argentina, Brazil, and other Latin American countries also aim to make the likes of bananas and coffee more affordable.

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Stocks close mixed in volatile week, jobs report due next Thursday

Stocks closed out a volatile week on Friday following the worst one-day decline in over a month.

The S&P 500 (^GSPC) fell below the flatline, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) declined by approximately 0.6%. Both indexes closed out the week with gains.

Meanwhile, the Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) gained 0.1%, following a steep sell-off in tech on Thursday. The tech-heavy index closed out the week with a loss of less than 1%.

On Friday, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said the September jobs report will be released next Thursday, Nov 20.

The report had not been released during the longest government shutdown in history. The government reopened this week following a bipartisan deal.

Bitcoin (BTC-USD) continued to decline on Friday, dropping 4% and falling to around $96,000 per token.
The recent sell-off is not a ‘tech wreck’, but an ‘AI reckoning’

Tech’s recent sell-off hasn’t changed the long-term thesis on AI, says one Wall Street strategist.

“What’s happened recently in the market isn’t even close to a tech wreck, but it may be a bit of a tech reckoning,” said Daniel Skelly, head of Morgan Stanley’s Wealth Management Market Research & Strategy.

“Given how much AI-related stocks have rallied in recent months, some retrenchment is perfectly normal,” he added. “The recent volatility hasn’t altered the longer-term bullish case for the AI leadership.”

Skelly said health care remains one of the market’s key overlooked stories.

“Even though it’s been the S&P 500’s strongest sector over the past three months, valuations are still attractive.”

The S&P 500 Health Care ETF (XLV) has rallied 10% since late September. Year-to-date its up 10%.
Volatility climbs above 20 in turbulent trading day

The VIX volatility index (^VIX) spiked to a four-week high during a choppy trading day on Friday.

The “fear gauge” rose above 20 as technology stocks rebounded amid dip-buying behavior after yesterday’s sell-off. Although the major indexes recovered from early morning losses, stocks bounced around in midday trading.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) rose 0.5% while the S&P 500 (^GSPC) was up 0.3%, as of 3 p.m. ET. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) lagged in the red, declining 0.3%.

Elsewhere, bitcoin (BTC-USD) saw heavy selling, and Treasury yields rose.
Intel is at risk of losing its long-standing chip lead to AMD

Yahoo Finance’s Dan Howley reports:

Read more here.
Tesla stock reverses higher as tech tries to shake off big sell-off

Yahoo Finance’s Pras Subramanian:

Read more here.
Bitcoin in ‘bear market regime’ as cryptocurrency briefly falls below $95,000

Bitcoin (BTC-USD) continued to sink on Friday, slipping 4% and falling below $95,000 at the lows of the session. The world’s largest cryptocurrency declined by more than 24% from its all-time high of over $126,000 in October.

Yahoo Finance’s Ines Ferre reports:

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Micron leads chip stocks higher

Micron (MU) shares jumped 6.8% to lead a jump in chip stocks after Thursday’s sell-off.

AMD (AMD) climbed 1.4%, and Nvidia (NVDA) rose 1.2%. The two saw some of the largest losses in Big Tech stocks during the previous trading session.

Broadcom (AVGO), contract chip manufacturer TSMC (TSM), and Arm (ARM) added less than 1%.
Stock setback likely temporary amid bull market: UBS

UBS strategists said the recent stock market setback is likely temporary, amid a broader bull run.

Hawkish talk from Fed officials in recent days has raised the question of whether the central bank would hold rates unchanged, or go for a 25 basis point cut at the Federal Open Market Committee’s next policy meeting in December.

“Despite the cautious rhetoric from Fed officials this week, we believe any decision will ultimately be data dependent,” Ulrike Hoffmann Burchardi, CIO Americas and global head of equities, UBS Global Wealth Management, wrote on Friday.

The strategist noted that even if the official October jobs report does not include the unemployment rate reading, other available data from private entities, such as ADP Research and Challenger, Gray & Christmas, “should also allow the Fed to continue its rate-cutting cycle if inflation remains under control.”

“So, with the Fed likely to cut rates further and tech companies reporting strong earnings, we maintain our view that the equity bull market is intact,” wrote Hoffmann Burchardi.

The firm expects the S&P 500 (^GSPC) to rise to 7,300 by June 2026 .
Who is John Furner, Walmart’s incoming CEO?

Walmart (WMT) stock continued to sink in morning trading after CEO Doug McMillon, who led the brick-and-mortar retailer to become a formidable player in e-commerce as well, announced his departure from the company.

Walmart’s US CEO, John Furner, will succeed McMillon as the company’s next CEO. Yahoo Finance’s Brooke DiPalma reports:

Read more here.
Tech stocks pare losses after Thursday’s sell-off

Big Tech stocks saw their earlier losses shrink after dropping in premarket trading.

Nvidia (NVDA), which dropped around 3% before the open, was down fractionally. Tesla (TSLA) sank 1.7% after its worst day since July. The two, alongside Broadcom (AVGO), saw the largest losses of Big Tech names during Thursday’s sell-off.

Meanwhile, Apple (AAPL) and Microsoft (MSFT) reversed direction to recover the prior trading session’s losses. The iPhone maker rose 0.15% after dropping modestly on Thursday. Microsoft climbed 0.35% after a 1.5% decline yesterday.
Stocks slide at the open

US stocks dropped at the open Friday, with tech leading losses as investors rotated out of riskier assets amid growing doubts over the Fed’s path to interest rate cuts following the longest-ever US government shutdown in history.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) fell roughly 0.9%, while the S&P 500 (^GSPC) sank over 1%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) tumbled around 1.6%.

Tesla (TSLA) and Nvidia (NVDA) dropped 4% and 2.8%, respectively, while Broadcom sank 2.9% after those stocks led a decline in Big Tech names during Thursday’s market selloff.
Trump-linked American Bitcoin’s Q3 revenue doubles

American Bitcoin (ABTC) stock fell 13% before the bell on Friday despite reporting a rise in profit. The company, which has Eric Trump as co-founder, chief strategy officer and Donald Trump Jr as a major stockholder, saw its profit more than double in the third quarter.

Reuters reports:

Read more here.
Walmart CEO Doug McMillon announces retirement, shares fall

Walmart (WMT) announced Friday that longtime CEO Doug McMillon will retire at the end of January. The company’s head of US operations, John Furner, has been tapped to replace him.

Shares of America’s largest retailer fell by 2.5% ahead of the opening bell.
China stocks fall as the country’s economic momentum slows

Economic momentum in China cooled in October, the National Bureau of Statistics of China reported on Friday.

Retail sales in the country grew 2.9% year over year, marking their slowest pace since last year and a cooling from the 3% growth seen in September. Results from Singles Day, China’s major shopping holiday in November, also showed modest growth, adding to concerns of a spending slowdown.

Industrial production in China rose 4.9%, its smallest gain since January. Investment in fixed assets decreased by 1.7% year over year.

US-listed Chinese stocks fell in premarket trading on Friday on the disappointing data:
A recession is brewing at the bottom of the K-shaped economy

The post-COVID recession that never arrived still hasn’t come. But that doesn’t mean Americans are in the clear, writes Yahoo Finance’s Hamza Shaban in today’s Morning Brief. He notes:

Read more here.
Tesla stock loses more ground after worst day since July

Tesla (TSLA) shares retreated further, down 4% in premarket as the broader tech sector geared up for another sell-off.

The EV maker’s stock is now poised to fall below the $400 threshold, revisiting lows not seen since the middle of September.

Tesla had its worst day since late July on Thursday, closing 6.6% lower after recovering from deeper session losses.

Yahoo Finance’s Pras Subramanian reports:

Read more here.
Good morning. Here’s what’s happening today.
Oracle hit hard in Wall Street’s tech sell-off over its huge AI bet

Oracle (ORCL) stock fell more than 1% before the bell on Friday and has been among the worst affected by the recent sell-off compared to its Big Tech rivals. The company’s borrowing, which has been used to fund its AI initiatives, has worried investors.

The FT reports:

Read more here.
Premarket trending tickers: Warner Bros, Whirlpool and Applied Materials

Warner Bros (WBD) stock rose 3% before in premarket trading on Friday after news that Paramount (PSKY), Comcast (CMCSA), and Netflix (NFLX) were preparing bids for the entertainment group.

Whirlpool (WHR) stock rose 3% before the bell on Friday following news that Investor David Tepper’s Appaloosa Management had purchased 5.2 million shares of the appliance maker.

Applied Materials (AMAT) stock fell 5% in premarket trading on Friday after the chipmaker reported a slowdown in revenue. The company’s first quarter forecast was more upbeat.
Bitcoin’s bear market deepens as ETF investors yank $870 million

Bloomberg reports:

Bitcoin (BTC-USD) fell further below the $100,000 mark as a bout of risk aversion sweeping across markets saw investors pull nearly $900 million from funds investing in the token.

The largest digital-asset sank as much as 2.8% to below $96,000 on Friday before paring losses, leaving it more than 20% below a record high reached in early October.

The crypto market remains under strain after $19 billion in liquidations on Oct. 10 in turn erased over $1 trillion from the total market value of all cryptocurrencies, CoinGecko data shows. The liquidations keep coming, with more than $1 billion worth of leveraged crypto bets wiped out in the past 24 hours, according to CoinGlass data.

Meanwhile, exchange-traded funds investing in bitcoin saw net outflows of about $870 million on Thursday, the second-largest daily withdrawal since their debut.

Read more here.