It was a volatile week on Wall Street, with the final two sessions delivering jolts to an AI-driven rally that had looked unstoppable.

On Friday, the Nasdaq 100 — tracked by the Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) — recorded its worst drop since April 2025's 'Liberation Day' selloff sparked by Trump-related tariffs, while the S&P 500 — tracked by the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) — snapped nine straight weeks of gains, its longest streak since 2023.

The risk sentiment sank amid two key catalysts.

First came Broadcom Inc. (AVGO). The chipmaker giant beat expectations last quarter and guided next-quarter sales to $29.4 billion, above the Street's $28.6 billion.

Yet CEO Hock Tan kept full-year AI semiconductor guidance unchanged at "in excess of $100 billion," puncturing sky-high expectations.

Near-perfect results were not enough for Wall Street, with the stock collapsing 12.6% Thursday and over 7% on Friday, dragging the entire AI infrastructure complex with it.

The semiconductor sector – tracked via the iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX) – tumbled more than 10% between Thursday and Friday, on track for its worst two-day drop since April 2025's tariff shock.

Hot Jobs Data Sparks Rate-Hike Fears

Then came the May jobs report.

Payrolls rose 172,000 versus an 85,000 consensus, with March and April revised up by a combined 93,000. Unemployment held at 4.3%.

Good news has become bad news for markets. Hotter-than-expected hiring, layered on top of April CPI at 3.8% year-over-year – the hottest since May 2023 – pushed the bond market to bet the next Federal Reserve move is up, not down.

Money markets now almost fully price a rate hike by year-end.

Crypto Bloodbath Deepens

The carnage was deepest in digital assets. Bitcoin (BTC) plunged below $60,000, a 17% weekly drop, its worst since November 2022, when Sam Bankman-Fried's FTX collapsed.

Strategy Inc. (MSTR) – formerly MicroStrategy, the world's largest corporate Bitcoin holder with over 843,000 coins — dropped roughly 25% on the week.

Chairman Michael Saylor disclosed the sale of 32 Bitcoin for $2.5 million between May 26 and 31, his first sale since December 2022, breaking the "never sell" mantra he had long preached.

Ford Snaps A Four-Week Streak

Ford Motor Co. (F) recorded one of its worst weeks in years, shedding 15% after a four-week winning streak.

The Detroit automaker is recalling nearly 420,000 Expedition and Lincoln Navigator SUVs (model years 2018-2022) — about 14,000 in Canada — over a seat belt pretensioner defect that can lock the belt and raise injury risk in crashes.

Volatility is back, the Fed-hike narrative is rising, the AI rally is being repriced, and Bitcoin's bid has broken.

After nine weeks straight up, the market needed a reason to pause. It found several at once.