Overview
- Global equities opened mixed on Friday with the S&P 500 and Dow slightly higher and the Nasdaq down as weakness in AI‑related and semiconductor names pressured tech indexes.
- Fed Chair Kevin Warsh spoke cautiously at IMF/World Bank meetings in Bangkok and gave no signal of an imminent policy shift, leaving markets positioned for steady rates into the FOMC later this month.
- Investor concern intensified this week over CoreWeave’s large reported debt load and a roughly 15% drop in its shares, which highlighted funding risks for cloud AI providers that have borrowed to expand capacity.
- Competitive pressure in memory markets rose after ChangXin disclosed a higher‑density chip design, adding to selloffs in NAND and DRAM names and weighing on chipmakers such as Micron and AMD.
- Oil showed intraday weakness after comments from President Donald Trump but remained set for a weekly gain as attacks around the Strait of Hormuz keep supply risk elevated, and Mexico’s IPC jumped past 68,000 led by a strong rise in FEMSA.