Wall Street sinks as investors fret about rate cuts

Wall Street closed sharply lower on Thursday, dragged down by steep losses in Nvidia, Tesla, and other artificial-intelligence heavyweights, as investors dialed back expectations for further Federal Reserve interest-rate cuts amid renewed inflation concerns and mixed signals from policymakers.

The market downturn came just as the U.S. government reopened after a record 43-day shutdown, which had rattled investors and delayed key economic reports. Recent remarks from Fed officials have fueled uncertainty, with several signaling hesitation about easing policy further this year.

Traders now see only a 47 % chance of a 25-basis-point rate cut in December, down from about 70 % last week, according to CME Group’s FedWatch Tool.

“The fundamental question is whether tariff-driven inflation is temporary or not,” said Jake Dollarhide, CEO of Longbow Asset Management in Tulsa. “That’s why some Fed governors are reluctant to cut—it’s a risky bet either way.”

AI Sector Leads Market Sell-Off

Technology stocks bore the brunt of Thursday’s sell-off as investors questioned lofty valuations built on AI optimism.

Nvidia (NVDA.O) sank 4.7 %

Tesla (TSLA.O) dropped 7.6 %

Broadcom (AVGO.O) slid 5.4 %

“There’s a lot of uncertainty about the economy. What we’re seeing is a correction in the AI sector and rotation to other parts of the market,” said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Spartan Capital Securities.

The S&P 500 fell 1.62 % to 6,739.60, the Nasdaq tumbled 2.48 % to 22,825.50, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 1.38 %, closing at 47,590.87.

Eight of the 11 S&P 500 sector indexes declined, led by a 2.74 % drop in information technology and a 2.58 % loss in consumer discretionary stocks.

Rotation Out of Tech

The week had earlier seen the Dow notch record highs on Tuesday and Wednesday as investors shifted money from technology into health care and value stocks.
The S&P 500 Value Index rose 1.4 % for the week, while the Growth Index slipped 0.7 %—a sign of investors’ growing caution around high-priced AI names.

Cisco Systems (CSCO.O) bucked the trend, climbing 5 % after raising full-year profit and revenue forecasts on strong demand for networking gear.

In contrast, Walt Disney (DIS.N) plunged 7.7 % after warning of a prolonged dispute with YouTube TV over distribution of its cable channels.

Labor and Commodities

Fresh labor data from ADP showed private employers shedding roughly 11,000 jobs per week through late October. A report from Indeed Hiring Lab pointed to a 16 % year-on-year decline in retail job postings, underscoring ongoing weakness in hiring.

Energy producer APA Corp gained 3.2 % after reports that Spain’s Repsol was considering a reverse merger of its upstream unit with potential partners.

Meanwhile, memory-chip makers Western Digital and SanDisk fell 3.1 % and 10.7 %, respectively, following weak sales and profit figures from Japan’s Kioxia Holdings.

Market Breadth

Declining stocks outnumbered advancers on the S&P 500 by roughly 1.8 to 1. The index posted 15 new highs and 6 new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 51 new highs and 178 new lows.

With inflation pressures persisting and rate-cut expectations fading, analysts say investors are bracing for more volatility as the year winds down.

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