US stocks bounce then fade as weekly losses deepen

US equities opened with solid gains, and memory chip stocks that had been heavily sold off bounced 10%. The momentum faded but the market did not collapse either.

Notable movers included:

• MU +5.1%
• SNDK +3.5%
• INTC +7.7%
• SKHY +2.8%
• NVDA +2.8%
• QCOM +5.8%

The major cloud computing companies were roughly unchanged. Indices posted gains but ended off their session peaks. Neither bulls nor bears can claim victory today, as the recovery followed a severe selloff. Enthusiasm was possibly tempered by non-farm payrolls data, which rekindled expectations of a rate hiking cycle.

A report about a strategic change at Microsoft weighed on sentiment for a time. Microsoft is said to be limiting third-party data center use, with Oracle mentioned. Oracle's shares fell 3% briefly and pulled the Nasdaq lower. Overall, the week was difficult for equities, though the losses were concentrated among a small number of stocks.

For the session:

• S&P 500 +0.3%
• Nasdaq Comp +1.1%
• Russell 2000 +1.0%
• DJIA -0.4%

For the week:

• S&P 500 -2.7% -- worst since April 2025
• Nasdaq Comp -3.4% -- fourth week of declines
• DJIA -0.9%

Shortly after the closing bell, the Financial Times reported that Anthropic is proceeding with its initial public offering at a valuation of $1.25-1.75 trillion, likely $1.5 trillion. Market participants continue to watch developments with Iran, but positive news headlines were quickly reversed. This suggests that some optimism is already priced in and that the market requires concrete confirmation.