Bank, Private-Equity Stock Rout Deepens As AI Fears Mount: What's Moving Markets Friday?

A sharp banking selloff gripped Wall Street on Friday, compounding a week dominated by concerns over artificial intelligence-driven economic disruption. Hotter-than-expected producer price data added pressure, clouding the Federal Reserve's rate-cut path.

By 1:00 p.m. in New York, the Nasdaq 100 was down 0.6%, the S&P 500 fell 0.7%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled 1.3% and the Russell 2000 declined 2.1%.

Financials led the downturn. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE:GS), Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE:WFC), Bank of America Corp. (NYSE:BAC), Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) and Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) plunged between 5% and 7%, marking their worst sessions since early April.

The investor anxiety extended to diversified financials. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) and Western Alliance Bancorp (NYSE:WAL) sank 11%.

Private equity firms traded broadly lower amid impairment fears. Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) dropped 4.58%, Blue Owl Capital Inc. (NYSE:OWL) fell 6.06%, Ares Management Corp. (NYSE:ARES) declined 7.64%, Apollo Global Management Inc. (NYSE:APO) slid 8.61% and KKR & Co. Inc. (NYSE:KKR) lost 7.43%.

In tech, Nvidia Corp. (NASDAQ:NVDA) fell 2.8%, extending Thursday's 5.4% decline and heading for its worst two-day drop since April.

Netflix Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX) bucked the trend, rallying 11% after walking away from a bidding war for Warner Bros. Discovery Inc. (NASDAQ:WBD) in a move investors viewed as financially disciplined.

Shares of Paramount Skydance Corp. (NYSE:PSKY) soared 23% after securing a $110 billion takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery. Block, Inc. (NYSE:XYZ) gained 14.85% after announcing major layoffs across Square, Cash App and Afterpay units.

Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) fell 2.6% to $65,000, eyeing its sixth straight weekly loss.

In commodities, oil rose over 2% to above $66 per barrel. Gold gained 1% to $5,235 per ounce. Silver rallied 6% to $93.

Friday's Performance In Major US Indices, ETFs:

According to Benzinga Pro data:

• The Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (NYSE:VOO) fell 0.7% to $685.85.
• The SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average (NYSE:DIA) fell 1.3% to $488.35.
• The tech-heavy Invesco QQQ Trust Series (NASDAQ:QQQ) declined 0.6% to $248.79.
• The iShares Russell 2000 ETF (NYSE:IWM) traded 2.1% lower to $262.13.
• The Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLK) underperformed, down 1.6%; the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLE) outperformed, up 1.2%.

Russell 1000's Top 5 Gainers On Friday

Russell 1000's Top 5 Losers On Friday

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