Nasdaq has worst week since April amid AI rally jitters, US yields slip

By Caroline Valetkevitch

NEW YORK (Reuters) -The Nasdaq ended slightly lower on Friday but registered its biggest weekly percentage drop since early April as investors worried about the sustainability of a rally in artificial intelligence shares, while U.S. Treasury yields inched lower.

Chip and other tech-related stocks have been some of the biggest losers this week, while the Nasdaq fell about 3% for the week.

The Nasdaq has gained more than 50% since April, when U.S. President Donald Trump announced sweeping tariffs, as optimism around AI pushed markets to all-time highs.

Earlier this week, however, The Financial Times reported a warning from Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang that China will beat the U.S. in the AI race.

"We're seeing this AI selloff continue after the comments we had ... about China winning the AI race. You're seeing a recalibration of multiples in the space, so that's where the bulk of the weakness is," said Michael O'Rourke, chief market strategist at JonesTrading in Stamford, Connecticut.

"You could also take it as profit-taking. It's been a very nice run for stocks this year, especially in that group," O'Rourke said.

Bitcoin is also down for the week, but was last up 2.09% on the day at $103,197.07.

All three major U.S. stock indexes spent much of the session sharply lower, but losses shrank, with the S&P 500 and the Dow turning higher late in the day following reports of progress on the congressional impasse which has resulted in the longest federal government shutdown in U.S. history.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 74.80 points, or 0.16%, to 46,987.10, the S&P 500 rose 8.49 points, or 0.13%, to 6,728.81 and the Nasdaq Composite fell 49.45 points, or 0.21%, to 23,004.54.

MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe fell 0.68 points, or 0.07%, to 991.32. The pan-European STOXX 600 index fell 0.55%.

Weaker-than-expected China trade data showed how hard Trump's tariffs have hit.

China's exports shrank 1.1% in October, the worst performance since February, data showed, chilling Asian markets with a stark reminder of the manufacturing juggernaut's reliance on American consumers. 

U.S. Treasury yields edged lower after new surveys indicated deteriorating consumer sentiment, partly due to the U.S. government shutdown, and as investors weighed debt supply concerns.

The University of Michigan's preliminary consumer sentiment index for November showed sentiment fell to 50.3, the lowest level since June 2022, on worries about the economic impact of the government shutdown. The decline was driven mainly by a sharp deterioration in respondents' views of current conditions, which tumbled to the lowest level on record.

The yield on benchmark U.S. 10-year notes fell 0.2 basis point to 4.091%, from 4.093% late on Thursday.

The U.S. dollar fell against major currencies. It had mostly firmed since last week when Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell acknowledged the risky nature of further easing moves. 

The shutdown has prevented the release of key economic data. Still, data signals from surveys suggest a resilience that could support the case for not cutting rates at the Federal Reserve's December meeting.

On the day, the dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies including the yen and the euro, fell 0.11% to 99.57, with the euro up 0.14% at $1.1563. Against the Japanese yen, the dollar strengthened 0.25% to 153.45.

Oil prices recovered from a midday dip on hopes Hungary can use Russian crude oil as Trump met Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban at the White House. U.S. crude rose 32 cents to settle at $59.75 a barrel and Brent rose 25 cents to settle at $63.63. Gold prices also were higher.

(Additional reporting by Lawrence White in London and Dhara Ranasinghe; Editing by Louise Heavens, Deepa Babington and Edmund Klamann)