WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Stocks have moved sharply lower during trading on Thursday, giving back ground after trending higher over the past few sessions. The tech-heavy Nasdaq is posting a significant loss after posting a standout gain on Wednesday.
Currently, the Nasdaq is just off its lows of the session, down 601.57 points or 2.3 percent at 26,101.29. The S&P 500 is also down 104.04 points or 1.3 percent at 7,653.13, while the narrower Dow is posting a more modest loss, down 234.30 points or 0.4 percent at 52,621.79.
The sharp pullback on Wall Street comes as tech stocks have come under pressure amid renewed concerns about debt-fueled AI infrastructure spending.
Traders' level of concern about the artificial intelligence trade seems to shift on a daily basis, contributing to substantial volatility in the markets.
The latest resurgence of worries may be in reaction to comments from Nvidia (NVDA) CEO Jensen Huang, who told CNBC that demand for neocloud firms like CoreWeave (CRWV) is 'off the charts' but 'scarcity of capital' is holding back growth.
A steep drop by shares of Meta Platforms (META) is also weighing on the tech sector, with the Facebook parent plunging by 6.2 percent despite reporting third quarter revenues that exceeded estimates and providing upbeat guidance.
Shares of IBM Corp. (IBM) have also slumped by 1.8 percent even though the tech giant reported third quarter results that beat expectations.
The weakness on Wall Street also comes amid a notable increase in the price of crude oil, as U.S. crude oil futures jump by more than 1 percent.
U.S. crude oil futures had spiked even higher earlier in the day after President Donald Trump denied the U.S. is negotiating with Iran and said 'something one way or the other' will 'happen fairly soon.'
A report from the New York Times also said the U.S. and Israel have drawn up specific plans for renewed strikes on Iran after Election Day.
Sector News
Semiconductor stocks are turning in some of the market's worst performances on the day, with the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index plunging by 5.6 percent to its lowest intraday level in almost three months.
A steep drop by the price of gold is also contributing to substantial weakness among gold stocks, as reflected by the 5.2 percent nosedive by the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index.
Oil service stocks are also seeing significant weakness despite the jump in crude oil prices, dragging the Philadelphia Oil Service Index down by 5.1 percent.
Networking and computer hardware stocks have also shown notable moves to the downside, while considerable strength is visible among housing and pharmaceutical stocks.
Other Markets
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly lower during trading on Thursday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index plunged by 2.7 percent, while China's Shanghai Composite Index slumped by1.5 percent.
The major European markets have also moved to the downside on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index is down by 1.4 percent, the German DAX Index is down by 0.9 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index is down by 0.3 percent.
In the bond market, treasuries have skyrocketed after ending yesterday's choppy session in the red. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, has plunged 13.1 basis points to 5.015 percent.
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