Nasdaq rebounds after sharp fall, but ends week down 3.4%

US technology shares rebounded on Friday after sharp losses a day earlier, but the Nasdaq’s 1.1% rise only partly offset a steep fall during the week as investors weighed AI spending and the prospect of tighter regulation.

The Nasdaq Composite closed at 24,579.42, while the S&P 500 gained 0.3% to 7,376.86. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.5% to 51,285.73. Nasdaq data and the Associated Press both put the technology-heavy index’s Thursday loss at 5.5%.

The Nasdaq finished the week down 3.4%; the S&P 500 lost 2.7%. The Dow was down 0.9% over the week.

Investors were concerned that Democrats’ midterm election victory could lead to curbs on AI’s growth, according to the ANP report published by Nieuws.nl. Market analyst Fawad Razaqzada of StoneX told Bloomberg that regulatory fears and questions about AI spending continued to weigh on the sector.

Technology companies have committed hundreds of billions of dollars to developing AI, Nieuws.nl reported, prompting investors to question whether the spending will generate sufficient returns. Friday’s gains did not remove those concerns.

The session also followed stronger-than-expected US jobs figures and an increase in consumer confidence, the report said. The jobs data supported Treasury yields, according to AP. Oracle shares rose 0.8%, recovering earlier losses, after Bloomberg reported that Microsoft was scaling back an agreement to use Oracle’s AI computing capacity.