Dow Ticks Up 0.10% Friday as Wall Street Steadies After Sharp Tech-Led Selloff and New Trump Tariffs

NEW YORK — The Dow Jones Industrial Average edged higher Friday morning, attempting to stabilize after a sharp technology-driven selloff a day earlier, as investors weighed a new round of global tariffs alongside continued concerns about heavy artificial intelligence spending and rising oil prices.

The Dow stood at 51,762.70, up 51.05 points, or 0.10%, in early trading. The modest gain came a day after the index fell 506.93 points, or 0.97%, to close Thursday at 51,711.65, capping a session that saw the broader market retreat sharply following disappointing earnings reactions from two major technology companies.

A rough Thursday for tech stocks

Thursday's decline was driven largely by steep drops in Alphabet and Tesla shares following their second-quarter earnings reports. Alphabet fell roughly 7% despite posting stronger-than-expected revenue, as investors focused on the company's decision to raise its full-year capital expenditure guidance. Tesla shares tumbled even further, falling about 12.6% to $326.75, after the company reported second-quarter results that missed profit expectations and highlighted higher planned spending on artificial intelligence infrastructure. Both companies posted negative free cash flow for the quarter, a detail that further weighed on investor sentiment.

The S&P 500 declined 1.21% Thursday to close at 7,408.30, while the Nasdaq Composite dropped 2.15% to 25,137.69, marking the index's steepest one-day decline in roughly a month. According to Bloomberg, a broader gauge of megacap technology stocks suffered its worst session since the tariff-driven market rout in April 2025, a sign of just how sharply investor sentiment shifted following the earnings reports.

Friday's tentative stabilization

Ahead of Friday's opening bell, futures pointed to a modest recovery attempt across major indexes. Dow futures rose roughly 0.4%, while S&P 500 futures edged up about 0.2% and Nasdaq-100 futures nudged higher by roughly 0.1%, according to Yahoo Finance. That cautious rebound followed a sharp selloff that had also spread into Asian markets overnight, with South Korea's Kospi and Japan's Nikkei both declining in the wake of Thursday's U.S. tech rout.

New tariffs take effect

Adding to the market's mixed tone Friday, a new set of global tariffs from the Trump administration officially went into effect overnight. The new levies, imposed under Section 301 trade authority in a bid to better withstand legal challenges, apply rates of 10% to 12.5% on goods from the United States' top trading partners, according to Yahoo Finance. The tariffs add another layer of uncertainty for investors already weighing questions about corporate spending, inflation and global trade relationships heading into the back half of the year.

Oil prices and geopolitical tensions

Energy markets also factored into Friday's trading, though in a somewhat calmer direction than earlier in the week. Brent crude futures fell about 2% Friday to trade below $99 per barrel, even as the benchmark remained on pace for a weekly gain after briefly touching $100 per barrel earlier in the week, driven by escalating tensions between the United States and Iran. President Donald Trump has said the U.S. would respond to any Iranian attacks on shipping in the Strait of Hormuz by striking Iranian infrastructure, comments that came following the collapse of a prior ceasefire and the deaths of three American service members.

A choppy week overall

Friday's modest gain caps a volatile stretch for U.S. equities. The market had shown some strength earlier in the week, with the Dow, S&P 500 and Nasdaq all posting solid gains Tuesday as investors reacted positively to an initial wave of corporate earnings. But that momentum reversed by midweek, with markets falling Wednesday ahead of the Alphabet and Tesla reports, before Thursday's sharper post-earnings decline. TheStreet Pro contributor James "Rev Shark" DePorre characterized the pattern succinctly, noting that Wednesday night's major earnings reports "confirmed investor concerns about capital spending," adding that while the underlying results were mostly solid, "the reactions were mostly negative due to" those spending concerns.

Individual stock movers

Beyond the megacap technology names, several other companies saw sharp moves this week tied to their own earnings reports. Pest control company Rollins dropped roughly 10% after second-quarter results fell short of Wall Street's expectations, while Shutterstock fell about 10% in after-hours trading following its decision to suspend its quarterly dividend, a move that came shortly after the company's former CEO stepped down and a proposed transaction with Getty Images fell through.

What's ahead

Investors on Friday are watching a fresh round of economic data, including S&P Global's flash purchasing managers' index readings for services and manufacturing activity in July, along with new home sales figures. On the corporate earnings front, American Express, NextEra Energy and Verizon Communications are among the companies scheduled to report results Friday, offering additional data points on consumer spending, utility demand and telecommunications activity heading into the weekend.

With markets still digesting Thursday's steep technology selloff, the newly implemented tariffs, and ongoing geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, investors are likely to remain closely focused on any further signals about the durability of AI-related capital spending as more major companies report earnings in the coming days. Whether Friday's modest gain represents the start of a sustained recovery or simply a pause before further volatility is likely to become clearer as additional earnings reports and economic data arrive over the next several trading sessions.