Stocks slip as dollar heads for weekly loss

Markets have been rattled this week by concerns over higher interest rates and the debt-fuelled financing behind the AI boom, triggering a selloff in technology and chip stocks. Traders increased bets on further US rate hikes after stronger-than-expected inflation data was released on Wednesday, while investors piled into Treasuries and other government bonds. On Wall Street, the benchmark S&P 500 and the Nasdaq were trading down and were headed for weekly losses.

The Dow was lower after reversing early gains but was still set for a weekly gain. Technology and communication services were driving losses while the top gainers were utilities and energy stocks. CoreWeave's shares shed 13% and were on track to lose nearly 26% this week amid increasing investor scrutiny of the financing for the massive AI infrastructure buildout. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.57%, the S&P 500 lost 1.3%, and the Nasdaq Composite fell 2.3%.

The MSCI World Equity Index lost 0.54% and was set for a weekly loss. European stock indexes, hit less hard by Thursday's selloff, gained, with the STOXX 600 adding 0.72%. London's FTSE 100 rose 0.38%. "We're starting to see some cracks in the financing of data centers because you're not too sure who's going to be the winners," said Tom Plumb, portfolio manager at Plumb Balanced Fund. "Our view is that there's going to be some really significant winners.

But you have to be careful on the financing capability because companies don't get into trouble because their assets don't exceed their liabilities. They get into trouble when they have liquidity issues." Asian stocks mostly rose, and bond markets steadied, with investors reversing some of the previous session's moves. Indonesian equities suffered their biggest drop since 1998 after index provider MSCI said the country's market no longer merited emerging-market status and outlined plans to remove it from key indexes tracked by funds.

DOLLAR FALLS, BONDS RECOVER The dollar index fell 0.21% and was on track for its first weekly decline after four weeks of gains, as lower Treasury yields reduced the currency's appeal. Further worries about AI would push the dollar down further, analysts said. The euro rose from its recent 17-month low. It was last up 0.1% at $1.12315. The Japanese yen weakened 0.03% against the greenback to 158.05 per dollar.

European government bond yields edged higher, while US bond yields reversed earlier declines. Germany's 10-year yield rose 4.36 basis points to 3.453%. The yield on benchmark US 10-year notes rose 2.13 basis points to 5.108%. Even so, yields have eased this week as investors sought the safety of government debt amid concerns about AI-related companies' finances. G7 government bond markets were on course for their strongest weekly performance since late May.

Brent crude futures rose 3.72% to settle at $109.86 a barrel and were headed for a second straight weekly gain amid concerns over Middle East supplies. Attacks around the Strait of Hormuz have surged in the past 10 days. Gold gained support from the weaker dollar, rising 0.25% to $4,159.69 an ounce. (Reporting by Chibuike Oguh, Kevin Buckland and Elizabeth Howcroft; Editing by Ros Russell, Mark Potter, Andrew Heavens, Rod Nickel)