The major market indexers were on pace to decline for the fourth consecutive week this week, but there were a few bright sports among the tech wreckage, including Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) and NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA).
As of Friday afternoon at 1:30 p.m. ET, the S&P 500 was down about 2.5% this week to around 5,620. Barring a major rally, the large-cap benchmark will decline for the fourth straight week. It is down about 4.4% year-to-date (YTD).
The Nasdaq Composite fell even further this week, dropping about 2.8% for around 17,680. It was also the fourth straight week it has declined. It did claw back some gains on Friday, rising about 2% to finish the week on an up note. The Nasdaq is down 8.5% YTD.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged 3.3% this week to around 41,400, its second consecutive down week. The Dow is off 2.7% YTD.
Finally, the Russell 2000 plummeted for the fifth straight week. The small-cap benchmark dropped to 2,040, down about 1.7% for the week.
Intel is the top gainer
One of the hardest hit tech stocks in recent years, Intel (NASDAQ:INTC), was the top gainer on the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq this week. Intel stock spiked 15% on Thursday and was up around 16% for the week to about $24 per share. The catalyst was the hiring of a new CEO at Intel, Lip-Bu Tan, the former CEO at Cadence Design (NASDAQ:CDNS) Systems.
Most of the other winners were energy and utility stocks. AES Corp. (NYSE:AES), a utility that provides energy for AI data centers, was up some 9.6% this week.
Conoco-Phillips (NYSE:COP) and EQT Corp. (NYSE:EQT) were also among the top five on the large-cap benchmark. Conoco-Phillips rose 9.2% while EQT (ST:EQTAB) jumped 8% this week. Both are oil and gas stocks, and they were boosted by lower oil prices.
Investors also bought back into some tech stocks this week, namely Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU), which jumped 8.1% and NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA), which surged 7.1%.
Micron is that rare tech stock that has performed well this year, up about 19% YTD. That’s because, unlike most other big names in the sector, it is not overvalued.
NVIDIA is still overvalued, but investors piled back in this week after the stock price plummeted to $105 per share after a disappointing earnings report by Oracle (NASDAQ:NYSE:ORCL), one of its partners. Investors were buying low on NVIDIA. Plus, the AI stock benefitted from a good CPI inflation report on Wednesday. Inflation ticked down to 2.8% in February; its first decline in five months.
Tesla continues its slide
Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) stock continued its slide, dropping about 5% this week to around $248 per share. Tesla stock got a lift on Tuesday when, in an unusual scene, President Donald Trump displayed several Teslas on the White House lawn to show support the struggling company.
But it was not enough to keep Tesla stock from falling as the EV marker has been in freefall from flagging sales and the controversial foray into politics by its CEO Elon Musk. Tesla stock is still down 38% YTD.
Tesla stock has seen an uptick in shorting activity in recent days, as short sellers look to capitalize on its sinking shares. At the same time, its long crowdedness score saw a slight decrease, according to Hazeltree, a data and technology provider for the alternative asset management industry.
“The data paints a picture of an EV stock that’s suffering a metaphorical ‘short-circuit’ — but perhaps the fuse is being replaced,” Tim Smith, managing director of Data Insights at Hazeltree, said. “With ongoing political turmoil and Elon Musk’s personal brand turbulence (e.g. DOGE backlash, protests, arson incidents), Tesla seems stuck between a volatile retail market and a potentially ambivalent institutional positioning.”