4:20pm: Another tech sell-off
Wall Street was shaken Thursday as tech giants stumbled and signs of labor market weakness rattled investors, sending major indexes sharply lower.
The Nasdaq plunged 1.6% to 22,541, the Dow Jones fell 1.2% to 48,909, and the S&P 500 slipped 1.2% to 6,798. The Russell 2000 tumbled 1.8% to 2,578, marking the biggest drop among the major indexes.
Tech stocks bore the brunt of the selling, with investors digesting Alphabet’s massive $185 billion AI investment plan. Shares wavered but managed to pare some losses as analysts weighed the company’s aggressive push into artificial intelligence.
All eyes now turn to Amazon, set to report earnings after the market close.
The downturn was also influenced by new jobs data signaling continued fragility in the labor market, keeping traders cautious amid mounting questions about the economy’s near-term trajectory.
3:40pm: Proactive news headlines
- VivoPower International PLC (NASDAQ:VVPR, FRA:51J) completed a deal with KWeather to exit part of its digital asset holdings, receiving a 20% equity stake in KWeather while KWeather acquires economic rights to some Ripple Labs shares.
- Standard Uranium Ltd (TSX-V:STND, OTCQB:STTDF, FRA:9SU0) began mobilization for its first diamond drilling program at the Corvo project, targeting high-grade surface uranium in the eastern Athabasca Basin.
- NextSource Materials Inc. (TSX:NEXT, OTCQB:NSRCF) signed a non-binding LOI with a major Japanese producer to negotiate long-term supply of anode materials for EV batteries from its planned Abu Dhabi facility starting in 2027.
- Gunnison Copper Corp (TSX:GCU, OTCQB:GCUMF, FRA:3XS0) announced an agreement with Paradigm Capital to distribute up to 143.2 million common shares held by the Greenstone Group to institutional investors.
- Alvopetro Energy Ltd (TSX-V:ALV, OTC:ALVOF, FRA:A6Y0) reported record January sales of 3,099 boepd, up 8% from Q4 2025, driven by stronger production in Brazil and higher oil sales in Canada.
- HIVE Digital Technologies (TSX-V:HIVE, NASDAQ:HIVE, FRA:YO0, BVC:HIVECO) produced 297 BTC in January 2026, up 191% from a year earlier, despite a 30% increase in network difficulty.
2:30pm: Market movers
- Rio Tinto and Glencore ended merger talks after failing to agree on terms, with Rio saying it could not secure a deal that would deliver sufficient shareholder value.
- Crypto exchange Gemini announced it will cut about 25% of its workforce as part of a strategic refocus on its core home market.
- Hims & Hers launched a compounded oral semaglutide weight-loss pill, offering a non-injectable alternative to Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy.
- Barrick Gold shares slid nearly 5% despite a 151% jump in quarterly earnings, as the miner unveiled plans to spin off its top North American assets via an IPO.
- e.l.f. Beauty shares fell more than 5% after the company raised full-year guidance by less than investors expected, despite beating quarterly sales estimates.
- Hershey shares jumped 7.7% after the company delivered better-than-expected quarterly earnings and issued a stronger-than-anticipated outlook for 2026.
- Ralph Lauren shares dropped nearly 7% as investors focused on expected fourth-quarter margin pressure, overshadowing a quarterly earnings beat and a higher full-year outlook.
- Tapestry shares rose 3.6% after the company posted stronger-than-expected second-quarter revenue and earnings, driven by solid demand for its Coach brand.
- Estée Lauder shares plunged nearly 22% as investors weighed tariff-related profit headwinds, despite the company raising its full-year adjusted earnings forecast.
- Peloton shares sank about 24% after the company reported a wider-than-expected quarterly loss and issued revenue guidance that missed Wall Street expectations.
1:15pm: Amazon earnings due
Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ:AMZN) is set to report fourth quarter results after the bell tonight, with Wedbush analysts noting that investor sentiment has been improving ahead of the release and reiterating an ‘Outperform’ rating and a $340 price target.
“Investor confidence has been building, with sentiment turning more positive following the company’s strong report last quarter,” the analysts wrote.
They noted that AWS growth exceeded expectations and pointed to backlog growth and expanding supply as indicators of continued demand.
The analysts expect AWS to be a major driver of Amazon’s performance in 2026. “We expect 2026 to be a big year for AWS serving to catalyze shares toward our $340 PT as the year plays out,” the analysts wrote. They also wrote that Amazon shares trade at about 22 times their 2027 GAAP EPS estimate.
11:20am: Labor market shows signs of slowing
The US labor market remains fragile, Wells Fargo analysts said after the December JOLTS report.
Job openings dropped to 6.5 million, down roughly 10% from a year ago, signaling that a rebound in hiring is not yet underway.
Both hiring and quit rates stayed near their lowest levels in about a decade, indicating subdued labor market activity, according to analysts.
While layoffs held at 1.1% in December, forward-looking data from Challenger suggest job cut announcements are rising. Wells Fargo noted that the trend highlights that companies may reduce headcount when other measures are exhausted, though not yet signaling widespread job losses.
10:40am: Stocks show resilience beneath tech selloff
The decline in US equities is driven largely by weakness in major technology stocks, but underlying market conditions remained resilient, according to Michael Brown, senior research strategist at Pepperstone.
“Once again, we see a market where things appear shaky at the surface, but are considerably more resilient under the surface,” Brown said, noting that 72% of S&P 500 components ended Wednesday higher despite index-level losses. Cyclical sectors outperformed, while skepticism around AI stocks weighed on tech-heavy benchmarks, including the Nasdaq 100.
Brown highlighted solid USeconomic data, including recent ISM manufacturing and services surveys, as evidence of ongoing strength. “Incoming USd ata is now beating expectations by its biggest margin in two-and-a-half years; that’s hardly a bearish indicator,” he said.
10am: Alphabet, Strategy and Qualcomm lead retreat at open
Wall Street has opened lower again, with big tech marching at the head of the retreat.
The tech-laden Nasdaq is down 1.45%, while the blue-chip Dow Jones has fallen 0.8% and the broader S&P 500 has dropped 1.1%.
Small caps are up, with the Russell 2000 edging up 0.2%.
Alphabet is down over 4%, while the biggest faller on the Nasdaq 100 are bitcoin ‘hodler’ Strategy and chipmaker Qualcomm, both down over 7%.
Over five days, the Nasdaq Composite is down almost 1,000 points or 4.2% at just over 22,500.
8am: Alphabet to lead Nasdaq lower
US stocks have been called sharply lower on Thursday after jobs cuts in the past month were higher than expected, while Google parent Alphabet is set to lead a further tech decline after its earnings overnight.
Futures for the S&P 500 were down 0.7% an hour and a half before the opening bell, with sharper falls expected on the Nasdaq, where futures pointed to a drop of 1.1%, and a smaller 0.4% for the Dow Jones.
This followed a mixed session the day before, when the Nasdaq slid 1.5% to 22,905, weighed down by a continued selloff in software and tech stocks, led by Advanced Micro Devices. The S&P dipped 0.5% to 6,883 and the Russell 2000 fell 0.9% to 2,624.
In contrast, the Dow climbed 0.5% to 49,501, buoyed by defensive and industrial shares.
The dollar was continuing to regain health, with the DXY index up 0.2% at 97.8. But in crypto markets, bitcoin plunged to levels last seen in over a year, down 8.5% to $69.5k.
Silver also tumbled, down 13% to $76.6 an ounce, while gold was down 3% at $4,818/oz. Oil was also weaker, with WTI crude down 2.3% at $63.66 a barrel.
Alphabet reported better-than-expected quarterly results, but the market took fright at an expected increase in capex for the year ahead.
The shares are down 4% in premarket trading (though still up 140% since last April).
The Google owner now expects to spend between $175 billion and $185 billion in 2026, nearly double last year’s level and far above what analysts had pencilled in.
In macroeconomic news, Challenger job cuts for January came in at 108.4K, up from 35.55K and well above the 43K expected.
Also due are initial jobless claims and continuing claims, along with the December JOLTS report.
