WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Following the rebound seen in the previous session, stocks have shown a notable move back to the downside during trading on Thursday. The major averages have moved than offset yesterday's gains, falling to their lowest levels in two weeks.
Currently, the major averages are just off their lows of the session. The Nasdaq is down 375.16 points or 1.6 percent at 23,124.64, the S&P 500 is down 63.65 points or 0.9 percent at 6,732.64 and the Dow is down 332.93 points or 0.7 percent at 46,978.07.
The sharp pullback on Wall Street comes amid renewed weakness among artificial intelligence-related stocks, which led the sell-off seen on Tuesday.
Shares of Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) have plunged by 7.5 percent after showing a strong move to the upside over the course of the previous session.
Major AI players Palantir Technologies (PLTR), Oracle (ORCL) and Nvidia (NVDA) have also shown notable moves to the downside.
Chipmaker Qualcomm (QCOM) has also tumbled by 4.1 percent despite reporting better than expected fiscal fourth quarter results and providing upbeat guidance for the current quarter.
Concerns about an AI bubble and the possibility of a near-term correction have recently weighed on investors' minds.
Negative sentiment may also have been generated in reaction to a report from global outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas showing a sharp increase in layoff announcements in the month of October.
Challenger, Gray & Christmas said U.S.-based employers announced 153,074 job cuts in October, up 183 percent from the 54,064 job cuts announced in September and up 175 percent from the 55,597 cuts announced in the same month a year ago.
'Some industries are correcting after the hiring boom of the pandemic, but this comes as AI adoption, softening consumer and corporate spending, and rising costs drive belt-tightening and hiring freezes,' said Andy Challenger, workplace expert and chief revenue officer for Challenger, Gray & Christmas.
He added, 'Those laid off now are finding it harder to quickly secure new roles, which could further loosen the labor market.'
Challenger, Gray & Christmas said employers have announced 1,099,500 job cuts through the first ten months of the year, marking the highest level of year-to-date job cuts since 2020.
Sector News
Software stocks have moved sharply lower on the day, dragging the Dow Jones U.S. Software Index down by 2.3 percent to its lowest intraday level two months.
Significant weakness is also visible among airline stocks, as reflected by the 2.1 percent slump by the NYSE Arca Airline Index.
Semiconductor stocks have also come under pressure after yesterday's rebound, with the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index tumbled by 2.1 percent.
Retail, networking and computer hardware stocks are also seeing notable weakness, while energy and gold stocks are bucking the downtrend.
Other Markets
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly higher during trading on Thursday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index jumped by 1.3 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index surged by 2.1 percent.
Meanwhile, the major European markets have moved to the downside on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index is down by 1.2 percent, the German DAX Index is down by 0.8 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index is down by 0.4 percent.
In the bond market, treasuries have shown a notable rebound following the weakness seen in the previous session. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is down by 6.8 basis points at 4.089 percent.
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