WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Stocks have come under pressure over the course of the trading day on Thursday, giving back ground after moving notably higher over the two previous sessions. Tech stocks are leading the way lower, resulting in a slump by the Nasdaq.
Currently, the Nasdaq is off its lows of the session but still 354.17 points or 1.5 percent at 22,797.90. The S&P 500 is also down 55.96 points or 0.8 percent at 6,890.17, while the narrower Dow is up 48.85 points or 0.1 percent at 49,531.00.
The weakness on Wall Street comes amid a negative reaction to earnings news from Nvidia (NVDA), with the artificial intelligence chipmaker tumbling by 4.7 percent.
Shares of Nvidia are pulling back off their best closing level in over three months even though the company reported better than expected fiscal fourth quarter results and provided upbeat guidance.
'It says a lot when a stock market darling beating revenue forecasts by billions of dollars can no longer muster a positive share price reaction,' said Dan Coatsworth, head of markets at AJ Bell. 'The mood music is changing on Nvidia, and it represents a significant shift in investor sentiment.'
He added, 'The focus has now shifted to growing competition, concerns about excessive levels of investment across the AI space either being unsustainable or unnecessary, and whether the party will end in tears.'
Nvidia is helping to lead the semiconductor sector lower, as reflected by the 3.7 percent plunge by the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index. The index ended the previous session at a record closing high.
Networking stocks have also shown a significant move to the downside, dragging the NYSE Arca Networking Index down by 2.1 percent.
Biotechnology, computer hardware and steel stocks are also seeing considerable weakness, while airline stocks have moved sharply higher, resulting in a 2.6 percent surge by the NYSE Arca Airline Index.
The uptick by the Dow partly reflects a surge by shares of Salesforce (CRM), with the customer service software maker jumping by 4.1 percent after reporting better than expected fourth quarter results.
On the U.S. economic front, a report released by the Labor Department showed a modest increase in first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits in the week ended February 21st.
The Labor Department said initial jobless claims rose to 212,000, an increase of 4,000 from the previous week's revised level of 208,000.
Economists had expected jobless claims to climb to 215,000 from the 206,000 originally reported for the previous week.
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region turned in a mixed performance on Thursday. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index slumped by 1.4 percent, while Japan's Nikkei 225 Index increased by 0.3 percent and South Korea's Kospi spiked by 3.7 percent.
Meanwhile, the major European markets have moved to the upside on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index is up by 0.5 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index and the German DAX Index are both up by 0.1 percent.
In the bond market, treasuries have moved higher 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 3.1 basis points at 4.017 percent.
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