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Tech pullback drags Wall Street stocks lower

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Tech pullback drags Wall Street stocks lower

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US tech stocks slipped on Friday as investors pivoted away from companies that had led markets higher for much of this year.

The S&P 500, Wall Street’s main equity benchmark, fell 1.1 per cent on Friday, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite dropped 1.5 per cent. Elon Musk’s electric-car maker Tesla was among the biggest laggards, falling 5 per cent, while chipmaker Nvidia dropped 2.1 per cent.

“I watch probably 30 different [market indicators] and they’re all down today,” said Jack Ablin, chief investment officer at Cresset Capital. “This was just widespread selling without much enthusiasm.”

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Tech stocks have rallied strongly this year, as investors bet artificial intelligence would drive demand for everything from servers to microchips. The gains accelerated after Donald Trump’s election victory in November on bets that the president-elect would usher in more business-friendly policies when his term begins next month.

However, the sector has been choppier in recent weeks as investors reassess their best-performing holdings at the end of the year. The Federal Reserve also sparked ructions last week when it forecast only two quarter-point rate cuts next year, compared with its September forecast of four, as officials fretted about growing risks that inflation becomes lodged well above the central bank’s 2 per cent target.

The hawkish projections have pushed up US long-term borrowing costs, with the 10-year Treasury yield rising to 4.63 per cent on Friday, compared with lows in September of about 3.6 per cent. Higher yields typically tarnish the appeal of holding shares in fast-growing companies.

Citigroup analysts on Friday said that while they still forecast the S&P 500 will rise about 10 per cent from current levels by the end of next year, they expect a “more volatile leg of the bull market ahead”.

The US bank noted this year’s gains in stock prices compared with corporate profits were “setting a high bar for fundamentals in the year ahead, and even the year after”. The S&P 500 trades at about 22.2 times expected earnings over the next year, compared with the average over the past decade of 18.1, according to FactSet data.

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Greg McBride, chief financial analyst at Bankrate.com, said that, “even with that volatile Friday, the market’s still higher than it was on Monday”.

He said: “Markets don’t go straight up, and a pullback often serves as a foundation for the next market advance.”

The S&P 500 is still up 25 per cent year-to-date even after Friday’s pullback, roughly on a par with the previous year’s gains.

The so-called Magnificent 7 Big Tech stocks — Apple, Microsoft, Meta, Amazon, Alphabet, Nvidia and Tesla — have been responsible for roughly half of the S&P 500’s total returns, including dividends, this year, said Howard Silverblatt at S&P Dow Jones Indices.

All of the Magnificent 7 shares declined modestly on Friday, however.

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Trading activity is typically lighter than usual during the holiday period, something that can exacerbate volatility.

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Video: Snowstorm Causes 100-Vehicle Pileup in Michigan

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Video: Snowstorm Causes 100-Vehicle Pileup in Michigan

new video loaded: Snowstorm Causes 100-Vehicle Pileup in Michigan

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Snowstorm Causes 100-Vehicle Pileup in Michigan

More than 100 vehicles slipped and crashed into one another in a chain-reaction pileup on a Michigan interstate on Monday.

“I seen it way ahead and I had to go. I had to go out. I went off the edge.” “This guy got hit too.”

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More than 100 vehicles slipped and crashed into one another in a chain-reaction pileup on a Michigan interstate on Monday.

By Jackeline Luna

January 19, 2026

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Top U.S. archbishops denounce American foreign policy

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Top U.S. archbishops denounce American foreign policy

From right, U.S. Cardinals, Joseph Tobin of Newark, and Blase Cupich of Chicago, attend a press conference at the North American College in Rome on May 9, 2025. Along with Cardinal Robert McElroy, archbishop of Washington (not pictured), the men issued a strongly worded statement on Monday criticizing the Trump administration’s foreign policy.

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Gregorio Borgia/AP

The three highest-ranking heads of Roman Catholic archdioceses in the United States issued a strongly worded statement on Monday criticizing the Trump administration’s foreign policy — without mentioning President Trump by name.

Cardinals Blase Cupich, archbishop of Chicago, Robert McElroy, archbishop of Washington, and Joseph Tobin, archbishop of Newark, say America’s actions raise moral questions.

“Our country’s moral role in confronting evil around the world, sustaining the right to life and human dignity, and supporting religious liberty are all under examination,” the statement reads. “And the building of just and sustainable peace, so crucial to humanity’s well-being now and in the future, is being reduced to partisan categories that encourage polarization and destructive policies.”

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They continued, “We seek a foreign policy that respects and advances the right to human life, religious liberty, and the enhancement of human dignity throughout the world, especially through economic assistance.”

The senior leaders cited the recent events in Venezuela, Ukraine and Greenland, which they said “have raised basic questions about the use of military force and the meaning of peace.”

The White House did not immediately respond to NPR’s request for comment.

The statement by the American cardinals was inspired by a recent speech Pope Leo XIV gave to ambassadors to the Holy See. In it, he criticized the weakening of multilateralism.

“A diplomacy that promotes dialogue and seeks consensus among all parties is being replaced by a diplomacy based on force, by either individuals or groups of allies. War is back in vogue and a zeal for war is spreading,” Leo said in his Jan. 9 address. “Peace is sought through weapons as a condition for asserting one’s own dominion. This gravely threatens the rule of law, which is the foundation of all peaceful civil coexistence.”

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Cupich said in a comment explaining the reasoning behind the archbishops’ statement, “As pastors entrusted with the teaching of our people, we cannot stand by while decisions are made that condemn millions to lives trapped permanently at the edge of existence,” he said. “Pope Leo has given us clear direction and we must apply his teachings to the conduct of our nation and its leaders.”

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Woman died after riding Revenge of the Mummy coaster at Universal Orlando, report says

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Woman died after riding Revenge of the Mummy coaster at Universal Orlando, report says

A 70-year-old woman died in November after riding the Revenge of the Mummy roller coaster at Universal Studios in Orlando, according to a report from the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.

The woman became unresponsive while riding the attraction on Nov. 25, the state agency said in its latest quarterly report on injuries at theme parks, which covers the last three months of 2025. She later died at a hospital, it said. The report did not provide additional details about the circumstances surrounding her death.

CBS News has reached out to Universal Orlando.

Revenge of the Mummy is an elaborate-looking indoor ride that incorporates elements of a typical roller coaster, strapping riders into conjoined carts that whisk them along a dimly-lit track filled with jerks and jump scares, as promotional materials for the experience show. 

According to a description of the ride published in a Universal Studios safety guide, Revenge of the Mummy “is a high-speed roller coaster ride that includes sudden and dramatic acceleration, climbing, tilting, and dropping.” At times, the ride reaches speeds of up to 45 mph, CBS affiliage WKMG reported.

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The ride has a minimum height requirement of 4 feet tall and isn’t suitable for passengers with a variety of medical conditions, including those who are susceptible to motion sickness or dizziness, or who have histories of heart conditions, abnormal blood pressure, back issues, neck issues, medical sensitivities to strobe effects, medical sensitivities to fog effects and any “other conditions which may be aggravated” by the ride, the safety description says.

This was the second death linked to a Universal Studios ride last year, Florida’s previous theme park injury report showed. On Sept. 17, a 32-year-old man died after riding the park’s Stardust Racers roller coaster. Citing a medical examiner’s report, WKMG reported that the man’s cause of death was determined to be “multiple blunt impact injuries.”

Earlier, in August, a 32-year-old woman was injured on the Revenge of the Mummy ride, according to the report, which said she suffered neck pain and motion sickness.

Florida law requires theme parks in the state to report ride-related injuries that require hospital stays of at least 24 hours.

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