NEW YORK: The tech-heavy Nasdaq rose on Friday as chip stocks bounced off heavy losses posted in the previous session on fears that a Democrats-led Congress could result in tougher AI regulation, even as the jobs report raised interest-rate hike concerns.
The Nasdaq Composite logged its steepest one-day decline in 19 months on Thursday, confirming it had entered correction territory. The index was also headed for a fourth straight weekly decline.
The selloff followed the Democrats’ midterm election victory, including in key data-center states, stoking concerns that AI data-center buildout could slow. Optimism over the sector’s rapid growth had propelled stock markets to record highs this year.
“It’s just that yesterday’s reaction seemed pretty pronounced and people are kind of just stepping in a bit,” said Thomas Shipp, vice president of equity research at LPL Financial.
Megacap and growth stocks were mixed. Nvidia added 3.8 percent, after suffering its worst day since January 2025 when the emergence of low-cost Chinese AI model DeepSeek had rattled Wall Street.
Chip stocks staged a recovery, with the broader semiconductor index rising 4.2 percent, after plunging over 12 percent in the previous session. AMD, Intel and Micron Technology were up between 6 percent and 10 percent.
Meanwhile, US nonfarm payrolls increased more than expected in October and the unemployment rate fell to 4.1 percent, suggesting the labor market remained resilient.
Traders added to bets that the Fed could hike rates as soon as next month, with a 78 percent chance of a December move compared with a 70 percent chance seen earlier.
“Those are strong numbers … the flip side is what we saw yesterday and how volatility has spiked; will the Fed want to raise interest rates in the face of a market which is teetering?” said Joe Saluzzi, co-head of equity trading at Themis Trading.
At 11:31 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average held steady at 51,555 points, the S&P 500 gained 69.32 points, or 0.94 percent, to 7,423.05 and the Nasdaq Composite gained 415.39 points, or 1.71 percent, to 24,730.30.
Six of the 11 S&P 500 sectors were trading higher, with information technology leading gains. Consumer staples and healthcare were the laggards.
The benchmark was on pace for its worst week since June.
Data-center operators IREN and Applied Digital, neoclouds CoreWeave and Nebius Group and AI-exposed utilities and equipment suppliers such as GE Vernova and Constellation Energy recovered from deep losses in the last session.
Elon Musk-led Tesla and SpaceX were also up 5 percent and 6 percent, respectively, after dropping sharply in the last two sessions.
Bucking the trend, Microchip slid 12.1 percent and was heading for its steepest weekly fall since December 2000, after the chip supplier forecast third-quarter adjusted gross margin below estimates.
A jump in crude oil prices on Thursday had also pressured equities over concerns of energy-fueled inflation and prospects of higher interest rates by global central banks. Brent crude futures were slightly lower on Friday.
Among other stock movers, software firm Atlassian dropped 15.4 percent after reporting first-quarter results. Airbnb climbed 10.4 percent after the vacation rental platform raised its full-year 2026 revenue growth forecast.
Comments