Wall Street had a rough Thursday. The Dow fell 399 points, dropping 0.84%. The S&P 500 lost 1.12%. Tech stocks took an even bigger hit—NASDAQ slid nearly 2%. Big names like AMD, Palantir, and Nvidia all stumbled. AMD plunged over 7%, Palantir slipped almost 7%, and Nvidia dropped 3.6%. Investors have been piling into these tech giants for a while, but now it looks like they’re finally hitting the brakes.
The VIX, that old fear gauge, spiked 9%. Clearly, nervousness is back. It’s not just tech. Fresh labor data shows job cuts in October hit levels we haven’t seen since 2003. That set off alarms about a possible slowdown. As a result, investors shifted their focus to US Treasury bonds, and yields fell, while expectations for future Fed rate cuts increased.
Robert Edwards at Edwards Asset Management put it plainly: “Big tech stocks are showing fatigue after a monster run.” JP Morgan boss Jamie Dimon didn’t sugarcoat things either, warning of more “turbulence” ahead given all the economic and geopolitical uncertainty.
On top of all this, the Supreme Court is still mulling over US tariff laws, and that’s just adding to the jitters.
But here’s a silver lining. By early Friday, futures on the S&P 500, Dow, and NASDAQ edged up. Maybe investors see some bargains after the sell-off. For now, though, Wall Street’s mood is cautious, and everyone’s watching for the next signal.
