Tech Rebounds After Selloff, Bitcoin Craters To $97,000: What's Moving Markets Friday?

Investors stepped back into beaten-down tech names Friday, with the Nasdaq 100 rising 0.6% by midday in New York, staging a modest rebound after Thursday's sharp selloff.

The S&P 500 edged up 0.3%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.3%, weighed by relative declines in financial and pharma stocks.

Nvidia Corp. (NASDAQ:NVDA) clawed back 1.8%, partially recovering from its 3.6% drop in the prior session.

Leading the charge in tech stocks, Micron Technology Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) jumped over 7%, marking the strongest performance across both the Nasdaq 100 and S&P 500. The surge followed a Reuters report that Samsung Electronics raised prices of DDR5 memory chips by as much as 60% this month, citing AI-driven demand. SanDisk Corp. (NASDAQ:SNDK) – heavily exposed to the chip-memory market – also rallied sharply, up more than 10%.

GE Vernova Inc. (NYSE:GEV) was another standout gainer. Shares rose after reports that Chinese export restrictions have triggered a global shortage of yttrium, a rare earth element used in high-temperature coatings for gas turbines—a critical component in GE Vernova's energy systems. The supply squeeze has raised concerns over potential cost spikes across aerospace, power and semiconductor industries.

Outside equities, Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) remained under pressure, sliding 3% to an intraday low of $94,500, before rebounding modestly to $97,000 as persistent outflows from crypto exchange-traded funds (ETFs) continued to weigh on sentiment.

The world's largest cryptocurrency is now down 25% from its early October record high, officially entering bear market territory and nearly wiping out its 2025 gains.

Meanwhile, gold prices dropped 1.7% to $4,100, dragged lower by hawkish signals from the Federal Reserve. With policymakers recently pushing back on early rate-cut bets, the odds of a December cut have fallen to 50%, according to futures markets.

Friday’s Performance In Major US Indices, ETFs

According to Benzinga Pro data:

• The Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (NYSE:VOO) rose 0.4% to $620.95.
• The SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average (NYSE:DIA) edged 0.2% lower to $473.79.
• The tech-heavy Invesco QQQ Trust Series (NASDAQ:QQQ) rose 0.7% to $613.00.
• The iShares Russell 2000 ETF (NYSE:IWM) rose 0.7% to $238.63.
• The Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLK) outperformed, up 1.4%; the Financials Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLF) lagged, down 0.4%.

S&P 500’s Top 5 Gainers On Friday

S&P 500’s Top 5 Losers On Friday

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Image created using artificial intelligence via Midjourney.