Wall Street ends mixed as oil volatility and AI spending fears weigh

Wall Street closed mixed on Friday, but major indexes posted weekly losses amid heightened geopolitical tensions and investor anxiety over AI spending. The Dow Jones rose 0.46% on the day, but fell 0.38% for the week; the S&P 500 slipped 0.61% weekly, and the Nasdaq dropped 2.13% Source: listindiario.

Geopolitical jitters and oil spike

• Oil prices surged after Yemen's Houthi rebels, backed by Iran, attacked Saudi tankers in the Red Sea, threatening the Bab al Mandeb strait. WTI crude briefly topped $90/barrel before settling at $89.31, up 8% on the week Source: listindiario. Brent crude exceeded $100/barrel, while the VIX 'fear index' jumped 17% to 20.31 points Source: larepublicaco.
• Hopes for diplomacy resurfaced after Iran signaled openness to talks, briefly easing oil prices earlier in the week Source: portafolioco.

Tech rout on AI capex concerns

• Alphabet and Tesla reported quarterly earnings that beat profit estimates but announced significantly higher capital spending for AI infrastructure. This sparked a sell-off: Alphabet lost 6.56% and Tesla plunged 13.82% on Thursday Source: infobae. On Friday, tech stocks partially recovered—Alphabet gained up to 1.85%, while Tesla edged down 0.49% Source: hoydo.
• The 'Magnificent Seven' stocks lost a combined $797 billion in market value on Thursday, though they stabilized Friday . Intel posted a strong revenue forecast but still fell 4.01% as semiconductor stocks overall declined .