United States benchmark indices ended mixed on Thursday (Friday AEDT), as a sharp decline in Nvidia overshadowed broadly solid corporate earnings and weighed heavily on technology shares.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average edged up 17 points, or 0.03%, to 49,499.2. In contrast, the S&P 500 fell 37.3 points, or 0.5%, to 6,908.9, while the Nasdaq Composite dropped 287.4 points, or 1.2%, to 22,861.5, reflecting weakness across high-growth technology names.
Shares in Nvidia declined 5.5%, despite the chipmaker reporting fourth-quarter results after Wednesday’s closing bell that exceeded analysts’ expectations on both revenue and earnings. The company also issued guidance above market forecasts.
However, the world’s largest listed company by market capitalisation faced increasingly challenging year-on-year comparisons as its breakneck revenue growth begins to moderate.
The weakness spilled over into the broader semiconductor sector. Shares in Broadcom lost 3.2%, Lam Research fell 4.2%, Western Digital dipped 3% and Applied Materials finished 4.9% lower.
In contrast, Salesforce rose 4% after reporting quarterly results that topped expectations on both the top and bottom lines. However, the company tempered investor enthusiasm by issuing a weaker-than-expected revenue forecast for fiscal 2027.
Beyond software, other sectors recorded gains during the session. Financials, energy and real estate stocks moved higher, helping to limit broader index losses.
The mixed performance followed a broadly upbeat session earlier in the week, when software and technology shares staged a rebound.
Nevertheless, sentiment across software and cybersecurity stocks has remained fragile this year as investors assess the rapid advancement of artificial intelligence products and their potential to disrupt incumbent business models.
Concerns that generative AI tools could erode pricing power or reduce demand for traditional enterprise software have weighed on valuations, even as many companies race to integrate AI capabilities into their own offerings.
Among individual names, The Trade Desk slid 4.8% after issuing a disappointing revenue forecast, citing mounting competitive pressure from larger rivals.
Meanwhile, J.M. Smucker surged 8.8% after the packaged food producer reported quarterly profit and sales that exceeded market expectations.
Shares in C3.ai tumbled 18.5% after the company delivered weaker-than-expected current-quarter sales guidance and announced plans to cut 26% of its global workforce.
On the bond markets, U.S. Treasury yields edged lower. The 10-year yield slipped 1.2% to 4.010%, while the 2-year yield also fell 1.2% to 3.436%.
