On Thursday, the Nasdaq concluded the trading session in negative territory, primarily driven by a downturn in technology stocks. This shift occurred as investors processed a series of earnings reports from major technology firms and considered the implications of Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell’s hawkish remarks made the day prior. All three major indexes concluded the trading session in negative territory. The Dow Jones Industrial Average experienced a decrease of 0.2%, translating to a loss of 109.88 points, concluding at 47,522.12 points. The S&P 500 experienced a decline of 1%, equivalent to 68.25 points, concluding the session at 6,822.34 points. Stocks in the consumer discretionary, communication services, materials, and technology sectors exhibited the poorest performance. The Technology Select Sector SPDR lost 1.2%, the Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR experienced a decline of 2.3%, while the Communication Services Select Sector SPDR saw a decrease of 1.7%. The Materials Select Sector SPDR experienced a decline of 1.3%. Eight of the 11 sectors of the benchmark index concluded the trading session in negative territory.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq experienced a decline of 1.6%, equivalent to 377.33 points, concluding at 23,581.14, thereby interrupting its three-day winning streak. The CBOE Volatility Index, often referred to as the fear gauge, experienced an increase of 0.06%, reaching a level of 16.91. On the NYSE, the ratio of decliners to advancers stood at 2.1-to-1. On the Nasdaq, a ratio of 1.98-to-1 indicated a preference for declining issues. On Thursday, trading volume reached 20.32 billion shares, which is below the 20-session average of 21.08 billion shares. On the Nasdaq, the market recorded 1,565 instances of new highs alongside 3,095 occurrences of new lows. On the New York Stock Exchange, 177 new highs were recorded alongside 172 new lows. The third-quarter earnings season is currently underway. Investors are scrutinizing the quarterly results of leading companies, having been deprived of economic data due to the current government shutdown. A number of technology behemoths disclosed their quarterly results on Wednesday following the market’s close, while several others were scheduled to announce earnings on Thursday after the market’s closure.

Microsoft Corporation, Alphabet, Inc. and Meta Platforms, Inc. reported quarterly results on Wednesday. On Thursday, Meta and Microsoft experienced declines of 11.33% and 2.9%, respectively. Microsoft disclosed a capital expenditure nearing $35 billion for the first quarter of fiscal 2026, indicating that this spending is expected to rise in the upcoming year. Meta has projected an increase in capital expenditure for the upcoming year, driven by heightened investments in artificial intelligence. Investors have exhibited considerable enthusiasm regarding the swift expansion within the AI sector; however, escalating expenditures in this domain have sparked apprehensions of late. The heightened spending projections for Microsoft and Meta have caused unease among investors, resulting in a decline in the stock prices of both firms, even in the face of an earnings surpass. Microsoft disclosed its first-quarter fiscal 2026 earnings, reporting $4.13 per share, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $3.65 per share. Meta disclosed its earnings for the third quarter of 2025, reporting a figure of $7.25 per share, which exceeded the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $6.61 per share. However, shares of Alphabet increased by 2.5% following the company’s announcement of third-quarter 2025 earnings of $2.87 per share, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.26 per share.

Market participants were attentive to the meeting between President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping in South Korea. Trump consented to reduce certain tariffs on China contingent upon Beijing’s commitment to reinstate purchases of soybeans and other agricultural products. Trump also consented to reduce fentanyl tariffs to 10% on China, resulting in an overall duty rate on Chinese imports of 47%. According to the new agreement, China will intensify its efforts to combat fentanyl trafficking into the United States. Thursday’s declines follow a period in which all three major indexes achieved new record-closing highs earlier this week. On Wednesday, indexes experienced a decline despite the Federal Reserve’s decision to lower the interest rate by a quarter point. The decline followed remarks from Fed Chair Jerome Powell that introduced ambiguity regarding a potential 25 basis point rate reduction in December.