United States stocks fell on Thursday (Friday AEDT), with the Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbling from record highs as investors scaled back expectations for a Federal Reserve rate cut and continued to pull money out of high-risk technology names.
The Dow dropped 797.6 points, or 1.7%, to close at 47,457.2, marking its worst session in over a month. The S&P 500 slid 113.5 points, or 1.7%, to 6,737.5, and the Nasdaq Composite lost 536.1 points, or 2.3%, to finish at 22,870.4.
Disney weighed on the broader market, sinking 7.8% after reporting mixed results for its fiscal fourth quarter, as the company’s weaker outlook overshadowed stronger streaming subscriber growth.
Technology shares extended their retreat as investors questioned lofty valuations across the artificial intelligence sector. Nvidia dropped 3.6%, Broadcom slipped 4.3%, Alphabet declined 2.9%, and AMD fell 4.2%.
In the consumer discretionary sector, Tesla plunged 6.6%, while eBay, Carnival, and Amazon fell 3.8%, 3.7%, and 2.7%, respectively.
The market downturn coincided with a sudden shift in expectations for a December rate cut. According to the CME Group FedWatch Tool, traders now see just a 51.9% probability that the Federal Reserve will trim its benchmark rate by 25 basis points at its final meeting of the year - down sharply from 62.9% a day earlier.
The Fed’s decision-making process has been clouded by the record-long U.S. government shutdown, which deprived policymakers of key economic data, including October’s jobs and inflation reports.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt warned earlier this week that some of these reports may ultimately never be released.
President Donald Trump signed a bill late Wednesday evening to end the six-week government shutdown, approving funding to keep the government running through the end of January.
On the bond markets, yields climbed, with the 10-year Treasury yield rising 1.3% to 4.119%, while the 2-year yield adding 0.9% to 3.597%.
