Wall Street Closes Lower Friday; Nasdaq Falls 2.2% and Books the Worst Week Among Major Indices

US stocks closed lower on Friday, 24 July 2026. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 506.93 points (1%) to 51,711.65, the S&P 500 slid 90.66 points (1.2%) to 7,408.30, and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 553.21 points (2.2%) to 25,137.69.

For the full week, the S&P 500 lost 1.6% and the Nasdaq fell 2.9%, the worst weekly showing among the major indices. A selloff in technology shares on worries about heavy AI spending, together with surging oil prices and rising Treasury yields that revived inflation fears, weighed on the market. The CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) jumped 12.4% on Friday to 18.70.