United States equities fell sharply on Thursday (Friday AEDT) as artificial intelligence-linked stocks resumed their decline, dragging major indexes lower amid renewed concern about stretched valuations and mounting signs of economic weakness.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 398.7 points or 0.8% to finish at 46,912.3, the S&P 500 dropped 76 points or 1.1% to 6,720.3, while the Nasdaq Composite tumbled 445.8 points or 1.9% to finish at 23,054.0.
The heaviest drags came from Nvidia, down 3.7%, Microsoft, which fell 2%, Palantir Technologies, down 6.8% - all key beneficiaries of the AI boom that have recently faced valuation pressures.
Qualcomm slid 3.6% despite posting stronger-than-expected quarterly results, as the company warned it may lose future business with Apple.
AMD, which surged on Wednesday after upbeat earnings, lost 7.3%, while Oracle lost 2.6%.
The market’s downturn was compounded by fresh data showing widespread layoffs across the U.S. economy. According to Challenger, Gray & Christmas, employers announced 153,000 job cuts in October - nearly triple September’s total and up 175% from a year earlier.
The report marked the highest October layoff figure in 22 years and put 2025 on pace for the worst year for job losses since 2009.
That bleak data has deepened investor anxiety about the health of the U.S. economy, particularly as the government shutdown - now entering its second month and the longest in history - continues to block the release of official labour and economic reports.
Among individual movers, DoorDash plunged 17.5% after the food delivery firm reported weaker-than-expected third-quarter profits due to rising expenses.
Cosmetics maker e.l.f. Beauty slumped 35% after forecasting annual sales and profit below Wall Street expectations.
In contrast, Snap gained 9.7% after posting stronger-than-expected quarterly revenue and unveiling a new partnership with Perplexity AI.
On the bond markets, yields fell, with the 10-year Treasury down 1.8% to 4.085% and the 2-year yield lower by 2.1% to 3.559%.
