Nasdaq Falls More Than 2 Percent as AI Selloff Deepens and Oil Jumps to 109 Dollars

Updated 19:16 UTC

Selling deepened heading into the close. The Nasdaq Composite was down 2.4 percent late in the session, which would leave it down 4.7 percent for the week, its sharpest weekly fall since April 2025, The Wall Street Journal reported. The S and P 500 was down more than 1 percent and the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.6 percent, though the Dow stayed up for the week. CoreWeave tumbled 13 percent, the iShares Semiconductor ETF fell another 3 percent for a ninth straight daily loss, CrowdStrike fell 7 percent and Oracle fell 4.5 percent, Barron's reported. Brent crude finished at 109.86 dollars a barrel, up 3.7 percent to its highest level since May, The Wall Street Journal reported.

The Nasdaq Composite fell about 2 percent in afternoon trading on Friday, October 16, 2026, as chip stocks and shares tied to artificial intelligence came under fresh pressure in New York. The S and P 500 was down about 1 percent at 7,667 points, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average was lower by about 0.5 percent, though the Dow was still up for the week.

The afternoon slide put the Nasdaq on course for a weekly loss of more than 4 percent, its sharpest weekly fall since June, The Wall Street Journal reported. The index had already fallen 3.8 percent from Tuesday's close over the past three sessions, Barron's reported, while the S and P 500 had lost nearly 2 percent in the same stretch.

Chips lead the fall

The Philadelphia semiconductor index, known as the SOX, sank about 2 percent on Friday afternoon and was on pace for an eighth straight down day, its longest losing run since October 2018, Investor's Business Daily reported. The index has fallen 14.2 percent since the close on October 6, its last up day. The iShares Semiconductor ETF, known as SOXX, was on track to fall for a ninth straight session, and Barron's said the chip index has fallen into bear market territory.

CoreWeave, the Nvidia backed cloud computing provider at the centre of this week's AI debt worries, sank 10 percent on Friday, Investopedia reported. The stock had dropped more than 15 percent on Wednesday, then closed 6 percent higher on Thursday. Tesla fell more than 2.5 percent a day after it unveiled its new Roadster, and Nvidia was nearly 1 percent lower after a fall of almost 2 percent on Thursday.

Fear gauge and oil jump together

The Cboe volatility index, known as the VIX and often called Wall Street's fear gauge, surged nearly 25 percent on Friday to 20.57, its highest level since mid summer, Barron's reported. At that level the index points to daily swings of about 1.3 percent for the S and P 500 in November.

Oil rose at the same time. Brent crude futures for December delivery jumped about 3.3 percent to about 109.30 dollars a barrel, The Wall Street Journal and Barron's reported, and front month US crude topped 100 dollars a barrel for the first time in a month. Ukraine has renewed its attacks on Russian oil refineries, and US lawmakers moved to block President Donald Trump's plan to import Russian diesel, Barron's reported. Traders also pointed to the risk to shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.

Rate relief did not calm tech

Markets had steadied earlier in the day after Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh, speaking overnight in Bangkok, gave no signal that the Fed plans to raise rates at its October meeting. Traders cut the chance of an October hike to 13 percent, from 28 percent a day earlier, Investopedia reported, citing CME FedWatch. The yield on the 10 year Treasury was at 5.11 percent in recent trading, up about four basis points from Thursday's close. It had reached 5.33 percent after Wednesday's consumer price data.

Bitcoin traded around 81,500 dollars, down slightly over the past 24 hours, and gold futures rose 0.3 percent to 4,180 dollars an ounce, Investopedia reported.