A wobbly U.S. stock market will take its cues in the coming week from a Federal Reserve meeting set to shed light on the path for interest rates, and from a packed slate of corporate earnings led by technology companies and heavyweights in artificial intelligence. Major equity indexes posted weekly declines, dragged down on the week by steep slides in Alphabet and Tesla following their quarterly reports. The fallout for Google parent Alphabet, sparked in part by an increase in its already massive AI spending plans, set a negative tone ahead of results next week from other AI "hyperscalers": Microsoft, Amazon and Meta Platforms. AI-related stocks have been at the heart of equity market gains this year, helping drive the bull market near to its fourth year. Despite this week's stumble, the benchmark S&P 500 is still up over 8% in 2026, while the market "feels very frothy," said Kristina Hooper, chief market strategist at Man Group.
"Investors are, to a certain extent, walking on eggshells," Hooper said. "And they're more likely to react negatively to any signs of imperfection."
