AI Stock Frenzy Peaks Then Falters: Nvidia Wobbles, Alibaba Soars as Global AI Boom Faces Reality Check
After months of euphoria, U.S. markets took a breather as August closed out, led by weakness in AI-focused stocks. On Friday, Aug. 29, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq retreated from all-time highs amid a tech sell-off investopedia.com investopedia.com. The Nasdaq Composite sank 1.2% while the S&P 500 lost 0.6%, breaking a streak of gains as traders locked in profits on this year’s AI-fueled winners investopedia.com investopedia.com. Tech mega-caps were mostly lower: Nvidia slid 3.4%, extending a 3-day decline; Tesla and Broadcom fell over 3%; even giants like Meta and Amazon were dragged down about 1–2% investopedia.com. This broad dip in tech weighed especially on semiconductor names – the PHLX Semiconductor Index dropped more than 3% as traders rotated out of high-fliers investopedia.com.