Stock market today: Dow, S&P 500, Nasdaq sink as tech stocks get pummeled

Stocks fell on Thursday, retreating with the broader market as investors shifted to a risk-off stance amid fears that AI-driven disruption could ripple across industries from software to trucking and logistics.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) fell roughly 1%. The S&P 500 (^GSPC) dropped 1.4%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) fell nearly 2%.

Technology stocks led the declines as concerns that AI would upend the software industry spread to other sectors, including trucking, logistics, and real estate services.

Gold (GC=F) futures sank 3% while bitcoin (BTC-USD) also declined to $65,000 per token.

The move lower comes ahead of Friday’s inflation report, which is expected to provide clues about what steps the Federal Reserve may take at its next policy meeting.

More sectors of the market were getting hit on Thursday over fears that AI will disrupt their respective industries.

Shares of commercial real estate players like CBRE (CBRE), Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL), and Hudson Pacific Properties (HPP) declined after Wall Street noted that investors were pulling away from high-fee sectors that could be affected by artificial intelligence, potentially altering their business models.

Trucking and logistics stocks also tumbled after the release of an advanced AI tool. Shares of C.H. Robinson Worldwide (CHRW) and RXO (RXO) plummeted 16% and 20% while J.B. Hunt Transport (JBHT) also fell.

The move lower comes on the heels of a decline in wealth management stocks following the unveiling earlier this week of an AI tool that customizes client tax strategies.

Software stocks have also been hammered over concerns that artificial intelligence will disrupt the industry.

Gold (GC=F) futures sank 3% on Thursday to hover near $4,950 per ounce, while silver (SI=F) ropped as much as 10% amid a broader market reversal.

Some strategists attributed the pullback in precious metals to traders selling holdings to meet margin calls.

The decline also follows a Kremlin meme reviewed by Bloomberg that suggests an embrace of the dollar as part of a broader economic partnership proposal between Moscow and Washington.

Yahoo Finance’s Francisco Velasdquez reports:

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Apple (AAPL) stock was the worst-performing “Magnificent Seven” stock on Thursday afternoon, dropping around 5% as part of a broad sell-off across tech.

Reports on Wednesday that Apple’s highly anticipated upgrade to its Siri voice assistant could be delayed also weighed on shares, which are off by 4% year to date. The new Siri was intended to be launched as part of an operating system update in March, but certain features could be postponed due to issues in testing, people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg.

The rollout of the revamped Siri, first announced in June 2024, has been riddled with delays, putting investors on edge about Apple’s artificial intelligence capabilities.

Separately, US Federal Trade Commission Chairman Andrew Ferguson said Wednesday he sent a letter to Apple CEO Tim Cook, raising concerns about allegations that Apple News has been censoring content from conservative publications.

Meta (META), Amazon (AMZN), and Tesla (TSLA) were also down more than 2% as tech got hit. Alphabet (GOOG, GOOGL) was the lone Magnificent Seven name in the green, up 0.4%.

Inflation in electricity prices has more than doubled headline PCE inflation as the AI infrastructure and data center build-out have sent power demand soaring through the US, Goldman Sachs analysts said in a client note on Wednesday.

Electricity prices rose by 6.9% year over year through December 2025, the bank wrote, while PCE inflation rose 2.9% over the same period. On an annualized average basis, electricity prices rose by 6.8% since January 2022, while headline PCE inflation rose by 3.4%.

The rapid inflation in electricity prices is primarily driven by two key factors: the rapid construction of data centers, which demand enormous amounts of energy to operate, and the boom in capital investment by utility companies as they attempt to increase energy supply to meet demand, “which will raise utility costs and therefore electricity prices.”

The analysts also noted several bottlenecks that will prevent energy supply from catching up with demand, including strict regulations and shortages of critical hardware such as transformers and natural gas turbines.

“The combination of strong demand and sluggish supply will likely increase power prices in regional wholesale markets — where most utilities and other market participants procure electricity before delivering it to final customers,” the analysts wrote.

Though they note that the pressure will likely be “much more acute in a few markets than the US as a whole because data centers are highly geographically concentrated,” with “about 1% of all US counties account[ing] for about 70% of data center capacity.”

The largest jumps in electricity inflation are likely to be seen in “tighter power markets” in the Midwest, California, and Texas, the analysts wrote.

The US stock market turned into the red through late morning trading on Thursday, marking a sharp reversal from earlier gains on the major indexes.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) led the way down, shedding roughly 1.5%. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 (^GSPC) and the blue chip-heavy Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI), which snapped a three-day streak of gains on Wednesday, both lost roughly 1%.

The downturn comes as investors look for any signs of weakness in the earnings reports of companies vulnerable to AI disruption, which has triggered the meltdown in software stocks over the past week-and-a-half. Cisco Systems (CSCO) stock fell over 11% as its gloomy profit outlook overshadowed a rise in sales amid Big Tech’s AI buildout.

The tech sector’s largest names also dragged the sector down, as Nvidia (NVDA) and Microsoft (MSFT) both fell over 1% while Meta (META), Amazon (AMZN), and Apple (AAPL) saw steeper losses.

While investors got a bullish read on the labor market in Wednesday’s nonfarm payrolls report, showing that January added twice as many jobs as expected, data published Thursday on initial jobless claims dimmed some of that optimism, showing a smaller decline than expected.

Oil prices fell on Thursday as investors weighed a new demand forecast from the International Energy Agency, which predicted a slowdown, and unclear progress in talks between the US and Iran.

Futures on international pricing benchmark Brent crude (BZ=F) and US benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude (CL=F) shed roughly 1.8% to trade below $68.20 and $63.50 a barrel, respectively.

In a new publication on Thursday, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said world oil demand would rise by 850,000 barrels per day (bpd) this year, 80,000 bpd lower than the agency’s January forecast. The figure is also much lower than that published by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries on Wednesday, which said demand would rise by 1.38 million bpd this year.

The IEA also maintained its call that the market will spend 2026 in a deep oversupply glut, which the agency pegged at 3.73 million bpd of excess oil.

While market watchers had broadly coalesced around the likelihood of a supply glut through 2026, with prices expected to drop, oil prices have instead gained roughly 10% since the start of the year, following a series of geopolitical events, including the US takeover of Venezuela’s oil industry, widespread protests in Iran, and damage to key export terminals on the Caspian Sea.

In public comments on Thursday, the CEO of commodities trading house Vitol, Russell Hardy, said the global oil market is tightening instead of loosening, especially as the US ratchets up pressure on Russia and Iran, pushing buyers to find barrels in other markets.

Vitol is the world’s largest independent trader of oil.

The key swing factor for oil prices right now remains ongoing negotiations between the US and Iran over the Iranian regime’s uranium enrichment technology. President Trump on Wednesday deployed more military craft to the region, and analysts say any military action could result in retaliation from Iran, which controls the Strait of Hormuz, a critically important global chokepoint for oil flows.

As worries around the electricity and water demand of AI data centers have taken root, federal and state lawmakers have begun pushing back, introducing bills to regulate or halt development entirely.

This week, Sens. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) introduced the first bipartisan bill in Congress designed to prevent data center power usage from affecting consumers’ electric bills.

A week earlier, on Feb. 6, New York became at least the sixth state to have its legislators propose a bill to pause data center construction within state lines. This legislation would effectively shut out New York as a potential site for new data centers if it passes.

In doing so, New York’s legislators join federal and state congressional leaders across the country in attempting to legislate an industry that has boomed and threatens an already overtaxed power grid.

“The regulatory framework was not designed for single-sector load shocks, so policymakers are attempting to adjust in real time to the scale and speed at which the load forecasts are changing,” Didi Caldwell, founder and CEO of site selection advisory firm Global Location Strategies, told Yahoo Finance.

“The system is ill-equipped to address the dramatic increase in demand created by AI data centers,” she said.

And lawmakers are trying to catch up.

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Wednesday’s unexpectedly bullish jobs report has all but shuttered the odds of rate cuts under current Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell and narrowed the path to cuts under a Kevin Warsh-led Fed, Bank of America economists wrote in a client note on Thursday, calling the report “a feast for the hawks.”

Data released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics on Wednesday showed that the US added 130,000 jobs in January, doubling economists’ expectations of 65,000. The unemployment rate also fell to 4.3% from 4.4%, beating expectations that the rate would remain flat.

The data gave lift to the argument that even as inflation has stayed elevated, the labor market is remaining resilient. These conditions are seen as reducing the odds of rate cuts in the near future.

“Payrolls surged above all expectations, the downward revisions were minimal, and wages and hours were up as well,” the analysts wrote. “The broad-based strength in the Jan jobs report vindicates our view that the Fed won’t cut under Powell.”

For now, the economists wrote, BofA is maintaining its prediction of two rate cuts under a Warsh-led Fed. But the swing metric for potential rate cuts under Warsh, they wrote, will be the unemployment rate.

“The key risk to his call for significant cuts is a decline in the u-rate. Therefore, the path to cuts under Warsh (which we don’t think the economy needs) now looks narrower,” the BofA economists wrote.

“If the u-rate is stable or down even further by June, Warsh might be stuck on hold for the rest of the year.”

US stocks rose in the first minutes of trading on Thursday as investors digested the latest string of earnings reports and looked ahead to Friday’s inflation reading as the next major signpost for rate-cut bets.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) picked up roughly 0.5% as trading began, after the blue-chip benchmark snapped a three-day win streak on Wednesday. The S&P 500 (^GSPC) and tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) both rose around 0.3%.

Thursday’s weekly reading on jobless claims — which showed a smaller decline than expected — offered another picture of the labor market after nonfarm-payrolls data showed the US economy added twice as many jobs as anticipated in January.

On the corporate calendar, earnings from Coinbase (COIN), Applied Materials (AMAT), and Rivian (RIVN) are due after Thursday’s closing bell.

The US saw 227,000 initial jobless claims for the week ended Feb. 7, exceeding expectations and marking a decrease from the previous week’s 232,000 initial claims, according to data released Thursday by the Department of Labor.

Economists had expected 223,000 claims for unemployment benefits, according to consensus estimates compiled by Bloomberg.

Continuing claims for the week came in at 1.86 million, also exceeding economists’ estimates of 1.85 million and marking an increase over the previous week’s 1.84 million continuing claims.

The Labor Department data comes after investors received a stronger-than-expected read on payroll additions in January.

Data released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics showed 130,000 jobs added in January, compared to estimates of 65,000 jobs. However, 2025 revisions knocked 400,000 job additions off the year’s total, bringing the monthly average of payroll additions to roughly 15,000 per month.

European stocks broadly gained on Thursday as earnings results from Siemens, EssilorLuxxotica, and others lifted sentiment.

Germany’s DAX (^GDAXI) rose 1.3%. The index was lifted by a 6% increase in Siemens stock (SIE.DE) after the industrial company raised its 2026 earnings guidance due to strong artificial intelligence demand.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 (^STOXX) advanced another 0.3% after hitting a record high on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, the CAC 40 (^FCHI) in Paris climbed 1%. Shares of component EssilorLuxxotica (EL.PA), the maker of Ray-Ban and Oakley sunglasses, jumped more than 6% after the company sounded bullish on revenue growth from smart glasses in its earnings report. EssilorLuxxotica expanded its partnership with Meta (META) to produce the AI glasses.

US healthcare company Baxter’s (BAX) stock sank 14% before the bell on Thursday following the release of its fourth quarter earnings, forecasting annual profit below Wall Street estimates. The company cited persistent problems from hurricane-related issues at one of its manufacturing plants.

Reuters reports:

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Magnum Ice Cream’s (MICC) stock fell 12% during premarket hours on Thursday. The group, which was recently spun off from Unilever (UL) and makes popular ice creams such as Ben & Jerry’s and Cornetto, reported a 3% decline in sales for its fourth quarter earnings.

The FT reports:

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Sanofi (SNY) stock fell 6% before the bell on Thursday after the French pharmaceutical company ousted its CEO, Paul Hudson, thanking him Thursday for “valuable contributions” but without giving any reason for his surprise exit.

Micron (MU) stock rose 3% during premarket hours on Thursday after its CEO, brushed off concerns on Wednesday about competition growing in the memory chip space. Samsung Electronics (005930.KS) also claimed an early lead in the race to supply AI chips to Nvidia (NVDA). Samsung Electronics is a key competitor of Micron.

AppLovin (APP) shares fell 5% before the bell today following the group’s fourth-quarter earnings release on Wednesday, which beat Wall Street estimates. The advertising company’s shares have fallen almost 30% over the past month.

Some smaller pharmaceutical companies not targeted by President Trump for deals to lower their US drug pricing are looking to craft their own agreements with his administration, industry sources told Reuters. The moves are a bid to avoid potentially onerous tariffs and new price-setting schemes.

Reuters reports:

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Cisco (CSCO) stock fell 7% during premarket hours on Thursday after the networking company issued guidance below Wall Street forecasts.

For the full year, Cisco raised its guidance for earnings per share to $3.00 to $3.08 on revenue of $61.2 billion to $61.7 billion. However, the Street was looking for earnings guidance of $3.12 on revenue of $62.1 billion.

In Cisco’s second quarter, the company reported earnings per share of $0.80, compared to Wall Street analyst estimates of $0.74 per share, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence. Revenue rose 10% year over year to $15.3 billion, compared to estimates of $15.1 billion.

“We see strong, broad-based demand for our technology solutions and remain focused on capturing the significant opportunities we see ahead,” Cisco CFO Mark Patterson said.

Reuters reports:

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Bloomberg reports:

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Bloomberg reports:

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