Stocks Slip and Oil Holds Above $100 as Tech Tries to Steady

Wall Street was mixed on Friday as climbing energy prices offset an attempted rebound in technology shares.

The market picture

By late morning, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down about 1%, or roughly 541 points, as of 11:12 a.m. ET, while the S&P 500 slipped 0.2% and was on track for a second straight weekly loss, the Associated Press reported. The Nasdaq Composite inched higher as chipmakers Nvidia and AMD bounced after Thursday's sell-off, according to Yahoo Finance, which had been the Nasdaq's worst session since June.

Oil is the pressure point

Brent crude traded near $115 a barrel and U.S. crude near $101 in the early afternoon, close to their highest levels since May, Reuters reported, on worries about rising tensions in the Middle East. Higher fuel costs feed directly into inflation, which complicates the Federal Reserve's job heading into its Oct. 27 to 28 meeting.

Bonds as a refuge

Investors have been moving into Treasurys this week. The 10-year yield held just under 5% on Friday, CNBC reported, after Thursday brought its biggest one-day drop since March 2023, driven by concerns over the heavy borrowing tech companies are doing to fund artificial intelligence projects.

Why it matters for crypto

Bitcoin has been moving closely with tech stocks, so a calmer Nasdaq offers some relief. But oil-driven inflation fears keep rate-hike odds alive, and that is a headwind for risk assets across the board, digital ones included.

Correction (Oct. 24, 2026): An earlier version said Brent was near $112; Reuters reported it near $115.