The stock market experienced a turbulent week influenced by concerns over US economic data. Cryptocurrencies also experienced significant losses before recovering toward the end of the week.
Meanwhile, a long-awaited ruling could have massive implications for the tech sector, and a California-based chip stock became the most recent to fall short of steep expectations.
Stay informed on the latest developments in the tech world with the Investing News Network’s round-up.
1. Panic selling kicks off the week
The stock market experienced one of its most turbulent weeks since the pandemic after a sudden shift in Japan’s monetary policy triggered an unwinding of yen carry trades on Monday (August 5). That set off a chain reaction that led to a selloff in Asian stock markets as investors tried to reduce their risk exposure.
In the US, investors were already on edge following troubling economic data from the previous week. The poor performance of Asian indexes stoked fears of a looming recession and sparked a massive selloff of high-risk assets, including inflated tech stocks. The S&P 500 (INDEXSP:.INX) opened at 5,151 on Monday, 0.67 percent below Friday’s close, and lost another 0.62 percent during early trading, bottoming out at 5,119.
Meanwhile, the Nasdaq-100 (INDEXNASDAQ:NDX) was down 2.52 percent from Friday at the opening bell on Monday, and shed another 0.05 percent early on, dropping to a low of 17,435.
The Volatility Index (INDEXCBOE:VIX), which is better known as the VIX and is considered Wall Street’s “fear gauge,” opened Monday at 65.73, jumping 42 points above its close on Friday, its largest-ever intraday jump.
By the end of the day, market sentiment had improved. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 both saw rebounds, closing 2.36 and 3.68 percent higher, respectively, from their lowest points on Monday.
S&P 500’s performance, week of August 5, 2024.
Chart via Google Finance.
However, volatility plagued the market leading up to Thursday’s (August 8) weekly US jobs report.
The report shows initial jobless claims of 233,000, fewer than the 240,000 estimate, suggesting elevated data from last week may have been disproportionately influenced by disruptions caused by Hurricane Debby.
Indexes gained some ground as investors trickled back into tech stocks. The S&P 500 recovered more than 4 percent and the Nasdaq-100 gained over 5 percent on Thursday, as compared to their lowest points on Monday, indicating a substantial rebound from the previous week’s losses.
As for individual stocks, Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) took the lead, regaining nearly 8 percent by the time trading closed on Thursday, with artificial intelligence darling NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA) in a close second with over 6 percent.
For the week, the S&P 500 was down 0.05 percent, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (INDEXDJX:.DJI) was down 0.6 percent and the Nasdaq was down 0.2 percent.
2. Solana breaks out…
Read More: Tech 5: Recession Fears Kick Panic Selling into Overdrive, Tech Selloff