After closing out another strong week of gains last week that pushed the S&P 500 to a new all-time high with a 1.8% advance, major U.S. equity indices are pulling back in this week’s early trading driven by a plunge in tech stocks levered to AI enthusiasm.

After a rocky start to the year, U.S. equity markets delivered the strongest weekly gain since the post-election rally in November 2024 in last week’s trading.

Strong labor numbers brought out the good news is bad news theme for the markets. High private payroll numbers combined with low initial jobless claims point to a continuing strong economy, which should be good news.

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After closing out a second consecutive year of remarkable returns in 2024 with the S&P 500 posting a total return of 25%, the U.S. stock market kicked off the new year on a turbulent note in last week’s holiday-shortened trading.