Wall Street dips amid ongoing geopolitical concerns

US stocks fell on Friday, putting Wall Street’s main indexes on track for a second consecutive weekly loss, as shares of Intel slumped sharply following weak guidance, while ongoing geopolitical tensions continued to weigh on investor risk appetite.

Stocks had rebounded over the previous two sessions after a sharp sell-off on Tuesday, triggered by threats from US President Donald Trump to impose tariffs on European allies unless Washington was allowed to purchase Greenland.

Trump later softened his rhetoric on tariffs and ruled out using force to take control of Greenland. Even so, the S&P 500, the Nasdaq, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average remained on course to end the week lower. At the same time, flows into safe-haven assets persisted, pushing gold prices to a new record high.

The biggest drag on markets on Friday came from chipmaker Intel, whose shares plunged 14.9% after the company forecast quarterly revenue and earnings below market expectations, citing difficulties in meeting demand for server chips used in artificial intelligence data centers. Despite the sharp drop, Intel shares were still up about 50% since the start of the year.

The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index fell 1.6%, pulling back from the record high reached in the previous session, while Wall Street’s volatility index, the VIX, known as the market’s fear gauge, rose after declining over the prior two sessions.

Peter Cardillo, chief economist at Spartan Capital Securities, said: “Earnings season has been good, but one or two stocks have issued less optimistic guidance and sold off accordingly as investors reposition. Guidance has now become more important than ever.”

He added: “Investors will remain cautious because we’re not just watching earnings, we’re also focused on the Federal Reserve. We don’t expect a policy change, but the question is what the Fed will say in its statement.”

By 9:48 a.m. Eastern Time, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 320.71 points, or 0.65%, at 49,063.30. The S&P 500 fell 14.68 points, or 0.21%, to 6,898.78, while the Nasdaq Composite slipped 36.50 points, or 0.16%, to 23,399.52.

Anticipation of the Federal Reserve decision

The Federal Reserve is widely expected to keep interest rates unchanged in the 3.5% to 3.75% range at its meeting next week. Investors will scrutinize the policy statement and comments from Chair Jerome Powell for clues about the next move. According to the CME FedWatch Tool, markets are pricing in the first rate cut in June.

Preliminary data from S&P Global showed US business activity remained steady in January, as an improvement in new orders offset weakness in the labor market.

Several members of the “Magnificent Seven,” including Apple, Tesla, and Microsoft, are set to report earnings next week. Their outlooks will be closely watched to assess whether the growth narratives supporting their elevated valuations remain intact.

Supported by the strength of the US economy and expectations for interest rate cuts later this year, market gains had broadened beyond mega-cap stocks into other sectors. Both the Russell 2000 small-cap index and the Dow Jones Transportation Average hit record highs on Thursday.

In other moves, shares of Nvidia rose 1.4% after Bloomberg reported that Chinese officials told companies including Alibaba, Tencent, and ByteDance to prepare for potential purchases of Nvidia’s H200 AI chips.

US-listed mining stocks such as Hecla Mining and Coeur Mining also edged higher by 0.6% and 0.3%, respectively, as silver prices climbed to record levels and approached the $100-per-ounce mark for the first time.