US stocks today: US stocks slide as AI spending jitters hit Nasdaq, oil prices rebound

Wall Street’s tech heavy Nasdaq fell sharply on Thursday as investors returned to concerns over the soaring cost of artificial intelligence investments, with disappointing reactions to Tesla and Meta adding to pressure on growth stocks. A rebound in oil prices also heightened market unease, keeping investors cautious after the strong rally in the previous session, according to Reuters report.

The Nasdaq fell 1.46% to 26,312.94 at 9:41 a.m. ET, while the S&P 500 dropped 0.81% to 7,694.03. The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 0.26% to 52,716.35.

AI spending comes back into focus

The weakness came a day after strong results from SpaceX and Super Micro had revived optimism around AI linked stocks. That enthusiasm faded on Thursday, with SpaceX down 3.9% and Super Micro falling 3.4% as investors focused on the rising costs of AI investments and uncertainty over when those investments will generate returns.


Tesla fell 1.9% after cutting its annual capital expenditure forecast, raising fresh questions about the pace of its AI and robotics ambitions. Meta dropped 6.7% after introducing new non voting shares to help fund its costly AI expansion.

"The thing that makes these AI names more vulnerable is just that they have such high valuations already. So any kind of little trip up in the market is going to cause a big decline in some of these stocks," Brendon Dashiell, portfolio manager for investment research at Bogart Wealth, said.

"We think markets will continue to be choppy, but we're still cautiously optimistic."

Oil rebound adds to market unease

The pressure extended beyond AI and technology stocks. Amazon and Nvidia fell about 2% each, while Intel dropped 5.3% and other major chip stocks including AMD, Qualcomm, Marvell Technology, Broadcom and Micron Technology also declined.

Oil prices rebounded towards a five month high after more Houthi attacks in Saudi Arabia fuelled concerns over supply disruptions and a wider Middle East conflict, Reuters reported.

The renewed risk off mood pushed the CBOE Volatility Index higher after three straight sessions of declines. Six of the 11 S&P 500 sectors were lower, led by technology, which fell 1.6%.

Meanwhile, defensive sectors offered some relief, with consumer staples and healthcare among the biggest gainers. The 10 year Treasury yield also slipped to around 5.0378% as investors moved towards safer assets.

Reuters reported that weekly jobless claims unexpectedly fell, pointing to a resilient labour market and supporting expectations that the Federal Reserve will keep interest rates unchanged at its meeting next week.

Among individual stocks, Lockheed Martin rose 9.4% after raising its annual sales and profit forecast, while Spotify climbed 8.7% after forecasting fourth quarter profit above Wall Street estimates. IBM fell 1.4% despite raising its annual software revenue forecast and beating third quarter expectations.