Geopolitical Concerns in Middle East Lead to Sixth Day of Stock Market Losses

Sheriff Adel (Washington)

With geopolitical concerns rising in the Middle East, the Nasdaq and S&P 500 indexes fell for a sixth day in a row on Friday, collectively recording their longest losing streak since October 2022, under pressure from stocks technology companies, led by Nvidia. , the preferred company among investors and the leader in the advancement of artificial intelligence in the world.
By the end of trading on the last day of the week, the S&P 500 index was down 0.88%, and losses in the Nasdaq index, which is full of major technology companies, reached more than 2%. Tightening on Friday, ends the day alone in the Green area, with an increase of more than half a percentage point.
The increase in the Dow Jones Index was contributed by a strong marathon of American bank stocks, led by the shares of American Express Bank, which rose more than 6%, after announcing its business results in the first quarter of the year.
“Nvidia” stock, during trading on Friday, recorded the second largest daily loss in the history of American stocks, after the stock declined by 10%, and the loss to $ 212 billion, exceeded only by the loss of Meta stock ” Facebook” on February 3, 2022, a… It came to 232 billion dollars.
Super Micro Computer Company stock lost nearly a quarter of its value during trading on Friday. However, the stock is still up more than 150% of its price at the beginning of the year.
Worst weekly performance
The S&P index recorded its worst weekly performance since March 2023, amid growing concerns about the path of inflation and monetary policy, with a loss of more than 3%. and much of the downward pressure came from technology stocks.
With this week’s decline, the S&P is now more than 5% below its 52-week high, part of a market decline that was largely driven by fading expectations of interest rate cuts. soon this year.
Cross currents
“There are a number of spillovers that the market is digesting, and inflation has been a little more resilient than the markets expected, or even the Fed expected,” said Bill Northey, chief investment officer at US Bank Wealth Management.
The Nasdaq index fell 5.5% this week, recording its fourth straight week of losses, the longest streak of weekly losses since January 2022. The week saw its worst weekly performance for the Nasdaq from November 2022.