NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks slumped Friday in another washout, as businesses around the world scrambled to contain the effects of a disruptive technology outage.
The S&P 500 fell 0.7% to close its first losing week in the last three and its worst since April. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 377 points, or 0.9%, while the Nasdaq composite sank 0.8%.
It was only on Tuesday that the S&P 500 set its latest all-time high. At first, pressure built on the Big Tech stocks that have been the market’s biggest winners, amid criticism they simply grew too expensive. Nvidia, for example, is still up 138% this year amid a frenzy around artificial-intelligence technology, even after falling 2.6% Friday and 8.8% over the week.
Gains for previously unloved areas of the market had helped to offset some of those declines: Smaller stocks and companies whose profits are closely tied to the economy’s strength were rising. That sparked hopes for a market where more stocks are rising, rather than just a handful of dominating elites, which market watchers say would be healthier.
“This rotation can continue, but it doesn’t always have to be where they’re rising faster, it could be because they are falling less,” according to Brian Jacobsen, chief economist at Annex Wealth Management.
Momentum for those beaten-down areas of the market may be sputtering. The Russell 2000 index of smaller stocks fell 0.6% Friday for its third straight drop, following its huge five-day run where it shot up 11.5%. Three out of every four stocks in the S&P 500 also sank.
Friday’s moves came as a major outage disrupted flights, banks and even doctors’ appointments around the world. Cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike said the issue believed to be behind the outage was not a security incident or...
