Nasdaq −2.15% as AI debt fears return; worst week since June

TL;DR

Friday's sell-off hit tech hardest: the Nasdaq fell 2.15% and finished the week down 4.5%, its worst week since June. The S&P 500 lost 1.09%.
The worry is debt-funded AI build-outs. CoreWeave fell another 12%, and AMD, Intel and Micron each dropped more than 5%.
Oil added pressure. WTI settled back above $100 and Brent hit its highest level since May.

📊 Indices (close, Fri 16 Oct)

Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	52,002.41	−175.28 (−0.34%), still up for the week
S&P 500	7,659.44	−84.62 (−1.09%), worst week since June
Nasdaq Composite	26,140.03	−573.00 (−2.15%), −4.5% on the week

Also: the 10-year Treasury yield held at about 5.1%, WTI settled at $101.41 (+$3.44) and Brent at $109.86 (+$3.94) on Middle East supply worries. CME FedWatch put December rate-hike odds at 74.3%, up from 50.2% a month ago, and Barclays now expects 25 bp hikes in both December and January.

🪙 Crypto (Mon morning)

Bitcoin: about $82,470, up about 0.8% over 24h and above Friday's close of $81,500.
Ether: about $2,420, roughly flat over 24h and in line with Friday's close of $2,419.92.
Crypto held steady over the weekend while tech stocks slid, without following the Nasdaq lower.

🚀 Movers

CoreWeave (CRWV) −11.9% to $61.39. Thursday's bounce faded as investors priced in higher rates for a heavily indebted company. The stock lost roughly a quarter of its value this week, and Reuters says yields on its bonds topped 15%.
Chips: AMD −5.95% to $528.75, Intel −5.79% to $89.85, Micron −5.63% to $878.84, Broadcom −4.52% to $328.75. The PHLX chip index was heading for an eighth straight decline, according to Reuters.
Fox Factory (FOXF) −13.3% to $16.04. CEO Mike Dennison stepped down, with Douglas Grimm named interim CEO, and the company trimmed its full-year revenue outlook.
Tesla (TSLA) −2.13% to $354.72. Shares were up nearly 5% premarket after the second-generation Roadster unveil, which uses SpaceX-developed thrusters with production targeted for 2028, but finished lower.
Alcoa (AA) +2.55% to $41.45. Q3 results beat expectations, helped by a rebound in its alumina business.

🤖 AI/Tech story: Anthropic's IPO price tag shrinks

According to Reuters, some current and prospective Anthropic investors are now discussing a valuation of around $1.5 trillion for its November IPO, down from the roughly $2 trillion that had been expected. Anthropic told investors that Q3 revenue rose 45% from the prior quarter to $16.8B and that it was profitable on an adjusted basis. Some were still disappointed, because revenue had more than doubled in Q2. Reuters notes that a cooler reception could weigh on the wider AI trade. So far that trade is being marked down on financing costs, not demand.

👀 What to watch today (times CEST)

Overnight: China's Q3 GDP grew 4.5% y/y, up from 4.3% in Q2 and better than expected.
Before the US open: Cleveland-Cliffs and Fifth Third Bancorp report earnings.
16:00: US NAHB housing market index for October.
After the US close (22:00+): Steel Dynamics, W. R. Berkley, Zions, Western Alliance and Wintrust report.
Also today: Canada's September CPI, plus speeches from ECB's Lane and Elderson.
Later this week: Netflix (Tue), Tesla, Meta and IBM (Wed), P&G (Thu), then flash PMIs (Fri).

Sources: Exa market data (DJI/SPX/IXIC, CRWV/AMD/INTC/MU/AVGO/FOXF/TSLA/AA, BTC/ETH, 16–19 Oct 2026); TheCloseReport 16 Oct snapshot; CBS News, "Tech stocks tumble as AI debt fears rattle Wall Street"; Reuters via Investing.com (16 Oct); WSJ markets live 16 Oct; AP index wrap 16 Oct; CNBC premarket and midday movers (16 Oct); Newsquawk crude wrap (16 Oct); CoinGecko prices (19 Oct, 06:32 CEST); Reuters, "Investors temper Anthropic IPO valuation expectations" (15 Oct); Xinhua / National Bureau of Statistics and CNBC on China Q3 GDP (19 Oct); eOption weekly event calendar; Earnings Whispers calendar 19 Oct; Newsquawk weekly calendar 19–23 Oct.

For informational and educational purposes only. Not financial advice. Do your own research.