Wall Street ended a bruising week with a quiet but telling session. The Nasdaq fell for a fifth day in a row, its longest losing streak in months, as traders kept pulling money out of the technology stocks that led the whole rally and parked it in safer corners of the market. The moves were small, the message was not. Away from tech, the picture brightened: a US inflation report landed right on expectations, the dollar slipped for a second day, and that let gold rebound toward $4,090 and the euro tick higher. Oil went the other way, with Brent tumbling about 3%.
Market snapshot
| Instrument | Level | Move |
|---|---|---|
| US equities (Fri Jun 26 close) | ||
| S&P 500 | ≈ 7,354 | −0.05% |
| Dow Jones | ≈ 51,876 | −0.09% |
| Nasdaq Composite | ≈ 25,298 | −0.24% · 5th straight loss |
| Metals | ||
| Gold (XAU/USD) | ≈ $4,087 | +1.49% · back toward $4,090 |
| Forex & energy | ||
| EUR/USD | 1.1385 | +0.13% · dollar slips 2nd day |
| Brent Crude | ≈ $72.95 | −3.07% |
Figures are verified on live price pages for the Friday 26 June session. Index levels are rounded. On the week, the Nasdaq fell about 4.6% and the S&P roughly 2%, while the Dow edged up around 0.6%. Always check live prices with your broker.
Tech can't catch a break
The Nasdaq Composite closed lower for a fifth straight session, the kind of slow, steady bleed that says more about mood than any single headline. Investors kept rotating out of technology and into more defensive parts of the market, nervous about how much the artificial-intelligence build-out is starting to cost. The latest spark was a New York Times report that OpenAI is weighing a delay to its IPO until next year, pointing to SpaceX's weak performance after its own debut and the general volatility in AI-linked shares. None of that is a disaster on its own, but after a week of memory-chip price shocks it was enough to keep chip stocks heavy. The damage stayed contained to tech: the S&P 500 dipped just 0.05% and the Dow eased 0.09%, so this was a rotation, not a rout. Over the full week, though, the split was wide. The Nasdaq lost about 4.6% while the Dow actually rose around 0.6%, a clean snapshot of money leaving high-growth tech for steadier names.
Live gold chart (last month). Prices shown are current, not the session covered above.
Gold rebounds as the dollar slips on PCE
The brighter story was in the currency and metals markets, and it came down to one number. The Federal Reserve's preferred inflation gauge, the PCE price index, came in at 4.1% for the year to May, broadly in line with expectations. Because it did not surprise to the upside, traders trimmed their bets on how aggressively the Fed might still raise rates, and the dollar eased for a second day. A softer dollar is rocket fuel for gold, which rebounded about 1.5% to roughly $4,087, clawing back ground after a punishing stretch. The euro rose to 1.1385. It is worth keeping this in perspective, though: even with Friday's bounce, gold still finished lower for a fourth week running, down around 3%, because the bigger trend, a firm dollar and a Fed that might still hike, has not changed. Brent crude ignored the softer dollar entirely and fell about 3% to near $73 on its own demand worries. You can see how the gold selloff built earlier in the week in Friday's wrap.
What it means for traders
Two threads are worth holding onto. First, the AI trade is no longer one-way: what was pure upside for two years is now also a question about cost and valuation, and that is why tech can bleed lower for a week even without a crash. Second, the dollar and gold are now hostage to one data point at a time. Friday's in-line PCE bought gold a bounce, but with markets still pricing rate hikes this year, those bounces are likely to be sold until the rate story actually turns. None of this tells you what happens next, and all of it argues for trading the level in front of you rather than the narrative. The discipline is the same as always: keep risk small per trade and size every position deliberately. For the releases that can swing the dollar from here, see our guide to the economic events that move forex.
This market wrap is for information and education only and is not financial advice, a forecast, or a recommendation to buy or sell any instrument. Prices and percentage moves are approximate, sourced from public price pages and reports, and may be delayed or revised. Trading forex, CFDs and leveraged products carries a high level of risk and may not be suitable for all investors; you can lose more than your deposit. Always do your own research.