"Nvidia's earnings were good but not like the blockbuster earnings that they've been delivering for a while," said Scott Welch, chief investment officer at Certuity. "Any company that is successful in bringing forward capable artificial intelligence at a lower cost - that's going to have an effect on these big megacap tech stocks." The Philadelphia chip index was down 6.09% at 4,686.75. The S&P 500 lost 1.59% to end at 5,861.57 points, while the Nasdaq Composite slipped 2.78% to 18,544.42. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.45% to 43,239.50.
The yields on the benchmark 10-year notes rose as markets awaited a key inflation report and digested mixed economic numbers that contrasted with recent downbeat reports that had pushed yields to their lowest levels of the year earlier this week. "The data today was not surprising, the bonds seem to be falling as the stock market rises", said Subadra Rajappa, head of U.S. rates strategy at Societe Generale in New York. Earlier in the week, stock market indexes were down and the risk -off movement favored Treasuries. The benchmark 10-year notes fell 8/32, yielding 4.2771%. Two-year notes were flat, yielding 4.0654%. 30- year bonds were 24/32 lower to yield 4.5528%.
The dollar jumped as U.S. President Donald Trump's latest tariff comments overshadowed signs of slower economic growth. "It's a world where people do not know what's going on, so they will wait for clarity before they commit to bigger investments, and that leaves foreign exchange a little bit sidelined and a little bit more prone to these kind of quick catch-ups," said Bob Savage, head markets strategist at BNY in New York. "Tariffs will confuse people about what it means for the economics of the world and who's going to get hurt the most and who wins and who loses, and there's going to be a lot of noise and dust to figure out before anyone comes through all of that," Savage added. The dollar index rose 0.79% to 107.26. The euro fell 0.79% to $1.0400. Sterling weakened 0.55% to $1.2602. Against the Japanese yen, the dollar rose 0.44% to 149.73 yen.
Oil prices rose as supply concerns resurfaced after U.S. President Donald Trump revoked a licence granted to U.S. oil major Chevron to operate in Venezuela. However, investors were still keeping an eye on signs of a potential peace deal in Ukraine, which could result in higher Russian oil flows. Brent crude oil futures were up 1.85% at $73.87 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose 2.26% to $70.17 a barrel.
Gold prices dropped as the dollar strengthened, with investors waiting for key inflation data that could shed light on the Federal Reserve's monetary policy path. "The direction of gold is very evident and these short-term bumps and some profit-taking is just a normal part of the cycle," said Alex Ebkarian, chief operating officer at Allegiance Gold. Spot gold was down 1.53% at $2,871.49 an ounce. U.S. gold futures lost 1.55% to $2,885.20 per ounce.
