Benchmark indices on Wall Street had a mixed and volatile session on Thursday with indices ending off their respective intraday lows, but on either side of the flat line.The Dow Jones ended 55 points higher, marking a 474 point recovery from the intraday lows. At the session’s low, the 30-stock index was down over 450 points. The S&P 500 ended below the flat line, having recovered 100 points from the low, while the Nasdaq fell 0.7%, not before recovering over 450 points from its intraday low.
Microsoft was the biggest drag on the Nasdaq and the S&P 500, ending 10% lower and marking its worst single-day drop since 2020. On the flip side, Meta shares surged after strong results, and that 10.5% surge provided an impetus to the Nasdaq recovery from the lows.
Adding to the fall were software names such as ServiceNow, Oracle and Salesforce, which fell between 2% to 10% on Thursday, on concerns that AI would disrupt Microsoft’s business model. ServiceNow’s 10% fall was despite strong results for the quarter. The iShares Expanded Tech-Software Sector ETF fell into bear market territory, having corrected 22% from its recent high.“The AI theme is overcrowded, and investors are revaluing the AI trade, so they are re-weighting big-tech stocks in their portfolios,” said Matt Maley at Miller Tabak & Co.
Microsoft was the biggest drag on the Nasdaq and the S&P 500, ending 10% lower and marking its worst single-day drop since 2020. On the flip side, Meta shares surged after strong results, and that 10.5% surge provided an impetus to the Nasdaq recovery from the lows.
Adding to the fall were software names such as ServiceNow, Oracle and Salesforce, which fell between 2% to 10% on Thursday, on concerns that AI would disrupt Microsoft’s business model. ServiceNow’s 10% fall was despite strong results for the quarter. The iShares Expanded Tech-Software Sector ETF fell into bear market territory, having corrected 22% from its recent high.“The AI theme is overcrowded, and investors are revaluing the AI trade, so they are re-weighting big-tech stocks in their portfolios,” said Matt Maley at Miller Tabak & Co.
Beyond equities, the Senate on Thursday failed to clear a procedural vote on a government funding package, raising chances of another shutdown. In case the fund legislation is not passed soon, the government will shutdown from Saturday 12:01 AM Eastern Time.
Precious metals saw sharp swings on Thursday, with Spot Gold prices correcting 4% from the intraday record high of $5,595 an ounce, while Silver also fell 5% from its own record high of $121.66. The US Dollar index fell back to levels of 96 after a brief recovery. Oil prices have crossed the mark of $71 intraday for the first time since September last year.
(With Inputs From Agencies)
