Finance

Wall Street benchmarks drifted slightly lower on Friday following hawkish commentary from the Federal Reserve regarding persistent inflation. Despite this late-week pullback, the S&P 500, Dow Jones Industrial Average, and Nasdaq Composite all secured positive overall returns for the week, hovering just below their recent historical highs.

A robust revenue projection from chipmaker Nvidia briefly reassured investors regarding the ongoing commercial viability of artificial intelligence infrastructure. However, the broader semiconductor space showed signs of a decoupling trend, as other major sector players recorded notable weekly losses despite Nvidia's positive momentum.

The cryptocurrency market observed heightened volatility as Bitcoin retreated toward the $77,000 range following a sharp weekly correction. The asset had previously surged past the $80,000 threshold for the first time in months, driven by structural support from a U.S. Treasury bond buyback expansion before being pressured by rising interest rate expectations.