Dow drops 119 points, Nasdaq inches higher, Bitcoin settles at $103k amid China talk rumors

U.S. stocks ended the week mixed, with investor sentiment cautious ahead of scheduled trade talks between U.S. and Chinese officials in Switzerland this weekend. 

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.3%, while the Nasdaq Composite edged up 0.0043% while the S&P 500 hovered near the flatline down 0.07%

The trading action follows a preliminary U.S.-U.K. trade agreement, but new tariff rhetoric has kept markets jittery. U.S. President Donald Trump floated an “80% Tariff on China” via Truth Social, a step down from the current 145% but still above the sub-60% expectations reported earlier in the week.

“Progress this week was encouraging, but we remain in the ebbs and flows of the news cycle,” said Nationwide’s Mark Hackett. “We are likely in a sideways period of volatility until we begin to get tangible outcomes.”

Bitcoin’s surge

Meanwhile, Bitcoin (BTC) surged above $104,000 Friday morning, driven by strong institutional inflows and ETF performance. Spot Bitcoin ETFs reached a new lifetime high in cumulative flows at $40.33 billion, per Bloomberg data. The largest cryptocurrency by market cap gave up some of its gains, trading at around $103,000 following Wall Street’s closing bell.

Elsewhere, Wells Fargo noted only 13 companies have withdrawn earnings guidance this season, fewer than expected in what it calls a “positive surprise.” Stocks such as Ford, Delta, and Snap were among those pulling forecasts.