Wall Street tumbles as worries about AI trade and high oil prices weigh

Wall Street tumbles as worries about AI trade and high oil prices weigh

By Noel Randewich and Purvi Agarwal

Fri October 16, 2026  

Today, a 3% jump in oil prices combined with serious concerns over debt-laden AI pushed all the indexes straight down in a big way, especially the Nasdaq that lost 572 points and dove 4% for the week, its sharpest fall since June and the S&P its sharpest since January. The AI companies have all cratered under all the debt pressure and the likelihood that all that debt will soon become even more expensive.  

Coreweave slumped 12% bringing its loss for the week to 25%. Its bonds sold off sharply bringing its yields over a whopping 15%. The chip index sank another 2.5% making eight straight days of declines. Despite all the bad news, the S&P is still up 12% this year and investors still widely expect no rate increase this month, now projecting a ¼ point hike in December. Even Fed Chair Warsh praised the economy for resilience and “hanging in there” despite the lingering problems. Per the CBOE, volume came in at 19 billion, above the 17.6 average. 

DJ: 52,177.69  +556.21        NAS: 26,713.03  +20.16         S&P: 7,744.06  +25.12        10/15

DJ: 52,002.41  -175.28         NAS: 26,140.03  -572.99        S&P: 7,659.44  -84.62          10/16

Fri 10-16-26 5:40 pm Wall Street tumbles as worries about AI trade and high oil prices weigh | Reuters