Stock Market Today: SPY, QQQ Pressured by AI Weakness as Oil Rallies

Both the S&P 500 ETF (SPY) and the Nasdaq 100 ETF (QQQ) closed lower on Friday as AI-related stocks continued to face pressure alongside higher oil prices.

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News That Moved the Stock Market Today

• Brent crude oil (BZ) jumped over 4% after the U.S. launched strikes against Iran for the sixth consecutive day. The latest strikes targeted power plants, bridges, and a port surveillance tower.
• Iran reinforced its claim over the Strait of Hormuz by attacking a Thai-flagged vessel, a source told the Fars News Agency.
• The University of Michigan's preliminary Index of Consumer Sentiment rebounded to 54.4 in July from 49.5 in June. The reading beat expectations of 51 and marked the second consecutive monthly gain of at least 10%.
• However, Surveys of Consumers Director Joanne Hsu warned that the uptrend could reverse due to rising gas prices.
• Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland President Beth Hammack said that a healthy labor market allows the Fed to focus on inflation, which remains "too high.
• Many AI stocks bounced higher from their early morning lows but failed to close in the green. These include AMD (AMD), Intel (INTC), and KLA Corp (KLAC).
• Meta Platforms (META) is in talks to lease computing power to Anthropic, according to the New York Times.
• Betaville reported that a big tech company has expressed interest in acquiring Adobe (ADBE).
• Verizon (VZ) announced it would eliminate 3,000 jobs as part of its corporate restructuring plan to cut costs.