Major U.S. indices suffered sharp declines Friday, with the S&P 500 dropping 1.71% to close at 6,366, while the Dow Jones fell 1.72% to 45,166. The tech-heavy Nasdaq bore the brunt of selling pressure, declining 1.95% to 20,928 as growth stocks faced renewed headwinds. The Russell 2000 small-cap index also retreated 1.75% to 2,441, indicating broad-based market weakness.
Volatility spiked dramatically as the VIX fear gauge surged to 31.0, reflecting heightened investor anxiety about market conditions. Gold prices climbed to $4,433 as investors sought safe-haven assets amid the equity selloff. Despite the overall market turmoil, energy remained a bright spot with Halliburton leading gainers, rising 4.20% to $40.42 on optimism around drilling activity.
On the downside, Datadog exemplified the tech sector's struggles, plummeting 7.90% to $114.48 as concerns about enterprise software spending weighed on cloud infrastructure stocks. The broad-based nature of Friday's decline suggests investors are grappling with multiple headwinds as the quarter draws to a close.