S&P 500 Falls for Fifth Straight Session, Longest Losing Streak Since August Last Year, as Defensive Sectors Buck the Trend
Taylor Wilson
The S&P 500 fell for a fifth straight session, its longest slide since last August, yet the S&P 500 stripped of AI names actually rose ~2.2% this week — money is rotating out of mega-cap tech and into healthcare, utilities and real estate.
Five days down — what actually fell and what didn't?
The S&P 500 slipped 0.05% Friday to 7,354.02; the Nasdaq fell 0.24% to 25,297.62. Both logged five-day losing streaks.
The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index plunged nearly 8% this week — its steepest weekly drop since early April — and was the main drag on the broader market.
Yet 8 of 11 major sectors finished the week higher. Healthcare, utilities and real estate led the gains; tech alone fell more than 5%.
This means → The index is falling, but most of the market is rising. The "decline" is really heavyweight tech dragging the index, not broad-based panic.
Magnificent Seven vs. the S&P 493 — how wide is the gap?
The Magnificent Seven tumbled roughly 6% this week, badly trailing the roughly flat S&P 493 — the widest weekly divergence since July 2024.
Even within the Seven, Friday told two stories: Microsoft rallied 5.71% and Apple gained 3.14%, while Nvidia slid 1.64% and Alphabet Class A fell 1.84%.
Strip out AI names and the S&P 500 rose ~2.2% this week; the S&P 500 equal-weight index hit an all-time high.
In plain terms = The market is not crashing — it is reshuffling chips. Money is flowing from AI leaders into the rest of the market, and breadth is actually widening.
How are institutions reading this pullback?
Mark Hackett at Nationwide called it consolidation beneath the surface, not the start of a major downturn, citing still-supportive consumer and business-investment fundamentals.
John Belton at Gabelli Funds labeled the tech correction a "pause," not a "sell-off," and remains bullish on hyperscale cloud platforms' long-term value in the AI era.
This reflects a shared institutional view: the AI thesis has not broken — valuations simply ran ahead and need digestion.
Oil below $70 — what does that mean for bonds?
WTI crude fell roughly 9.55% this week, dropping another 3.74% Friday to $69.23/barrel — its first close below $70 since the US-Iran tensions.
Falling oil plus a core PCE print largely in line with expectations drove a bond rally across the curve — the 10-year yield dropped more than 10 basis points this week to 4.37%.
This means → Inflation pressure is easing, and the bond market is already pricing in looser policy ahead of the Fed.
Goldman Sachs chief economist Jan Hatzius, however, reiterated that the Fed will not cut rates this year — putting him at odds with consensus.
Gold, silver, bitcoin — safe havens falling too?
Spot gold fell roughly 1.9% this week, briefly dipping below the $4,000 level and forming its first "death cross" since September 2023 — the 50-day moving average crossing below the 200-day, a bearish technical signal.
Spot silver tumbled about 9.49% this week, the steepest loss among precious metals.
Bitcoin briefly broke below $60,000 this week before edging up 0.4% Friday; the Nasdaq Golden Dragon China Index fell roughly 5.57% for the week.
In plain terms = When tech stocks and commodities sell off simultaneously, even traditional safe havens get caught in the crossfire — a sign the market is doing a broad position rebalance, not a simple flight to safety.
Content is for reference only, not financial advice.