WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - After coming under pressure early in the session, stocks saw continued weakness throughout much of the trading day on Thursday. The major averages more than offset the gains posted during Wednesday's session, falling to their lowest closing levels in two weeks.
The major averages moved to the downside going into close, ending the day just off their lows of the session. The Nasdaq tumbled 445.80 points or 1.9 percent to 23,053.99, the S&P 500 slumped 75.97 points or 1.1 percent to 6,720.32 and the Dow slid 398.70 points or 0.8 percent to 46,912.30.
The sharp pullback on Wall Street came amid renewed weakness among artificial intelligence-related stocks, which led the sell-off seen on Tuesday.
Shares of Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) plunged by 7.3 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) also showed significant moves to the downside.
Chipmaker Qualcomm (QCOM) also tumbled by 3.6 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
Semiconductor stocks showed a substantial move back to the downside following yesterday's rebound, with the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index tumbling by 2.4 percent.
Significant weakness was also visible among software stocks, as reflected by the 2.2 percent slump by the Dow Jones U.S. Software Index.
Retail, airline and computer hardware stocks also saw considerable weakness, while energy stocks bucked the downtrend despite a modest decrease by the price of crude oil.
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 moved to the downside on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index fell by 0.4 percent, the German DAX Index and the French CAC 40 Index tumbled by 1.3 percent and 1.4 percent, respectively.
In the bond market, treasuries showed 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, slumped 6.4 basis points to 4.093 percent.
Looking Ahead
A preliminary reading on U.S. consumer sentiment in November may attract attention on Friday, as the government shutdown delays the release of the Labor Department's closely watched monthly jobs report.
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