Financial Markets                      11/06 15:31

   

   NEW YORK (AP) -- AI stocks bounced back Friday and recovered some of their 
sell-off from the last two days. The rest of the U.S. stock market was mixed, 
though, following a whirlwind few days of Wall Street trying to sort out what 
this week's sweeping victories by Democrats in the U.S. midterm elections will 
mean for the economy.

   The S&P 500 rose 0.3% and trimmed its loss for the week to 2.7%, which was 
its worst since President Donald Trump shook markets in April 2025 with his 
"Liberation Day" tariffs. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 237 points, 
or 0.5%, and the Nasdaq composite climbed 1.1%.

   The relative steadiness for Wall Street halted what had been a worldwide 
tumble for stocks. Indexes dropped 6% in Tokyo and in Seoul following the U.S. 
market's plunge on Thursday. European indexes have fewer stocks tied to the 
artificial-intelligence industry, but Germany's DAX nevertheless lost 1.9%.

   Friday's biggest lift for the S&P 500 came from Nvidia, the chip company 
that's become the face of the boom and possible bust of the AI frenzy. Its 
stock climbed 2.8%, coming off drops of 9.3% and 3.2%.

   It and other companies tied to the build-out of AI data centers tumbled this 
week on worries that Democratic victories in statehouses across the country 
could mean a slowdown in further construction, particularly in Texas. Voters 
across political parties say they're wary about AI and don't like increases to 
power bills caused by data centers.

   That built on top of worries already rattling the industry that further 
construction of AI data centers may slow because of how expensive it's become 
to borrow money. Before that, even, critics were saying AI stock prices had 
shot too high and were in a bubble.

   But political power in Washington will still be split between a Democratic 
Congress and a White House run by the Republican Trump, who retains the power 
to veto. That could limit federal efforts to rein in the AI industry.

   In the meantime, companies in the industry still see strong growth.

   IREN, a company that delivers data centers, compute and software for AI 
training, reported stronger results for the latest quarter than analysts 
expected. Its stock jumped 20%, and it also announced two new contracts signed 
since the end of the quarter.

   Lam Research, a company whose equipment and services help make 
semiconductors, climbed 8.2% after announcing a program to send up to $25 
billion to its investors by buying back shares of its own stock.

   That helped other stocks that have benefited from the build-out of AI data 
centers recover some of their own sharp losses. CoreWeave, which rents out 
access to AI chips to customers over the cloud, rose 6.3%. Micron Technology, 
which sells memory for computers, climbed 5.1%.

   Outside of AI, the U.S. stock market was mixed, and more stocks fell within 
the S&P 500 than rose.

   Axon Enterprise tumbled 18.2% after the seller of Tasers reported weaker 
results for the latest quarter than analysts expected. It also announced a $1.2 
billion investment in Skydio, a drone technology company.

   Charter Communications sank 6.2% after the internet and video provider 
reported a loss for the latest quarter, when analysts were expecting a profit.

   All told, the S&P 500 rose 23.13 points to 7,376.86. The Dow Jones 
Industrial Average dipped 237.33 to 51,285.73, and the Nasdaq composite climbed 
264.43 to 24,579.42.

   Despite all its vicious swings this week, the S&P 500 remains only 5.7% 
below its all-time high, which was set last month.

   In the bond market, Treasury yields held firmer following sharp drops 
earlier in the week triggered by tumbling stock prices and hopes that split 
control of Washington could limit how much more the U.S. government adds to its 
debt.

   The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.86% from 4.84% late Thursday. It 
had topped 5.30% last month when worries about inflation, higher interest rates 
and rising government debt were spiking.

   Helping to support yields was a report released Friday morning showing U.S. 
employers hired many more workers last month than economists expected. It's the 
latest signal that the U.S. economy continues to chug along despite high 
inflation.

   On one hand, the encouraging data could mean the U.S. economy may be able to 
absorb a slowdown in construction of AI data centers. But at the same time, the 
strong growth in jobs could push upward on inflation. Following the report, 
traders saw a greater probability of the Federal Reserve hiking its short-term 
interest rate at its next meeting in December, according to data from CME Group.

   Rate hikes by the Fed can rein in inflation, but they do so by making 
borrowing money more expensive for everyone and slowing the overall economy.

   A separate report, meanwhile, suggested that sentiment among U.S. consumers 
unexpectedly improved. The preliminary report from the University of Michigan 
said sentiment rose for lower- and middle-wealth Americans but fell for those 
with the largest stock portfolios.

   Perhaps more importantly for the bond market, the survey also suggested 
expectations for inflation in the coming year eased for Americans. That could 
prevent a vicious cycle where expectations for high inflation drive behavior 
that only worsens inflation.

   ___

   AP Business Writer Yuri Kageyama contributed to this report.

   ---------

   itemid:bba6f0bf9035a6e6b1c4fef3e8230b89




(c) Copyright 2026 DTN, LLC. All rights reserved.