Live updates: Stock market today, stocks seesaw again as volatility grips Wall Street
Markets are caught up in a tangle of overlapping anxieties that some see as echoes of the dot-com bubble in the late 1990s that went bust in the early 2000s.
Big Tech and the promise of AI have fueled the historic rise in stocks this year, but analysts have warned in recent months that this is a one-legged stool – and AI companies’ high valuations can’t support the market forever.
Add to that the growing unease about the economic impact of President Donald Trump’s tariffs. Consumers are jostled by rising prices, with delinquencies and subprime debt rising for lower-income tiers. Trade with the United States has slowed due to higher tariffs, and China has accused the United States of torpedoing efforts to resolve the trade war between the world’s two largest economies.
Geopolitical flashpoints remain in Ukraine and the Middle East, but markets remain optimistic about meetings lined up between Trump and his Chinese counterpart; and with Russia’s President Vladimir Putin. Worry about oversupply has pressured the oil market, with the price of Brent and WTI both at near five-month lows.
All these concerns intersect with broader economic jitters about softer US job growth and stubborn inflation that are putting anticipated Federal Reserve rate cuts at risk.
And now, the questions swirling about lower lending standards in the banking sector are exacerbating the overall gloomy mood on Wall Street. Industry leader Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase, warned this week of underlying peril in the market, saying that once you see one cockroach, that usually means there are more hiding.
Global markets were sharply lower Friday, while the major US indexes look mostly set to rebound from their earlier lows, revealing fragile optimism amid the bearish sentiment.
