Stock Market Today: Dow Drops Over 300 Points Amid A Tech Stock Rout

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Xinhua News Agency

• Stocks dropped Friday led by a decline in mega-cap tech firms.
• The 10-year Treasury yield jumped above 4.6%.
• Still, equities ended the holiday-shortened week in the green.

US stocks sank on Friday as technology firms led a broad-sweeping decline across each major index.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite fell 1.49% while the S&P 500 lost 1.11%. The Dow Jones shed 333 points to end the day.

"I think what you see today is a lack of faith," UBS senior portfolio manager Alan Rechtschaffen told CNBC, citing uncertainty around trade and productivity.

A sell-off in government bonds is also weighing on equity appetite, with the 10-year Treasury yield now trading above 4.6%. Bond traders may be adjusting to expectations of higher-for-longer interest rates next year, and are monitoring how the Trump administration responds to rising fiscal deficits.

Despite Friday's sharp decline, indexes remained in the green for the holiday week. Investors may still be holding out for stocks to rally into the year-end, as is typical during the last five trading days of the year.

While gains have been made during the holiday-shortened week, it could bode ill if the so-called Santa Claus rally fails to manifest.

"When Santa doesn't show up and stocks are lower over this period, the S&P 500 has generated an average January and forward annual return of -0.02% and 5.0%, respectively," Adam Turnquist chief, technical strategist for LPL Financial, wrote this week.

Here's where US indexes stood shortly after the 4:00 p.m. closing bell on Friday:

• S&P 500: 5,970.84 (-1.11%)
• Dow Jones Industrial Average: 42,992.21 (-0.77%)
• Nasdaq composite: 19,722.03 (-1.49%)

Here's what else is happening:

• Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway is buying up shares of internet domain provider VeriSign.
• Apple stock has 26% upside as its AI strategy unlocks a 'new era' of growth, Wedbush says.
• De Beers builds up the largest diamond stockpile since the 2008 crisis as demand slumps, report says.
• Why not to worry about overstretched stock valuations in 2025, according to one strategist.