Nasdaq attempts to recover from worst rout in 19 months as AI stocks see some buying

The Nasdaq Composite rebounded on Friday as some investors bought the dip in chip stocks following a punishing sell-off that sent the index into correction territory.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq bounced by 1%. The S&P 500 rose 0.5%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average traded down 53 points, or 0.1%.

Worries of a potential slowdown in data center construction following big Democratic wins in the House and Senate and key state governorships hit U.S. markets hard on Thursday.

The heavy selling Thursday sent the three major stock averages to their worst one-day losses since April 2025. The Nasdaq Composite tumbled 5.5%, closing more than 10% below its most recent high and putting it in what Wall Street regards as a correction. The broad-market S&P 500 lost 4.4%, while the Dow fell more than 1,800 points, or 3.4%.

All 11 sectors in the S&P 500 closed lower, but shares of companies tied to the AI build-out led the decline.

During Friday’s session, shares of Micron Technology were up 3% following a 17% decline on Thursday. Nvidia was up 2% after a 9% rout the day before and moved back into positive territory for the year.

“The scale of the falls in some of the market’s biggest names has been striking. But it also highlights the concentration risk that has built up in U.S. equity markets,” Stuart Clark, portfolio manager at Quilter, said by email.