U.S. stocks extended their slide on Thursday as Brent crude vaulted above $100 a barrel and the 10-year Treasury yield climbed to an 18-month high, while concerns over Alphabet Inc.’s (NASDAQ:GOOGL) rising AI capital expenditures overshadowed an otherwise strong quarterly report and added to investor unease following Tesla Inc.’s (NASDAQ:TSLA) results.
President Donald Trump warned that “major military punishment will be inflicted upon Iran” if its Houthi proxies again fire on tankers, after two Saudi Arabian vessels were hit overnight.
• U.S. Global Jets ETF stock is down today. What’s behind JETS decline?
The escalation collided with an already jittery tape. Oil now trades higher for the fifth straight session, reaching the highest since early June.
West Texas Intermediate crude jumped 6.3% to $92.27 a barrel, while Brent surged 6.7% to $100.38.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose for a fourth straight session to 4.71%, its highest since January 2025, as surging fuel costs and a 57-year low in initial jobless claims fed expectations that the Fed will need to tighten further.
Markets are now pricing a better-than-33% chance of a rate hike next week, with the odds of a September increase above 78%, up from 61% a day earlier.
The S&P 500 fell 1.2% to 7,405.91, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.9%, or about 498 points, to 51,720.88.
The Cboe Volatility Index jumped toward 20 as hedging demand picked up. The Nasdaq 100 dropped 1.9% to 28,452.45, dragged by megacap technology.
The Magnificent Seven were the epicenter of the selloff. Alphabet Inc. sank 6.6% after doubling its capital-expenditure forecast to $205 billion for this year, reigniting concerns over unsustainable AI infrastructure spending.
Tesla Inc. tumbled 13% toward a one-year low after reporting lower profits despite a strong stretch for the broader EV sector. Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) fell 4.5%, Meta Platforms Inc. (NASDAQ:META) lost 4.1%, and Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ:MSFT) slid 2.5%.
Gold slipped 2% to around $4,048 an ounce as a stronger dollar and rising real yields pressured the metal.
Thursday’s Performance In Major U.S. Indices
| Index | Last | % Change |
|---|---|---|
| S&P 500 | 7,405.91 | -1.2% |
| Dow Jones | 51,720.88 | -0.9% |
| Nasdaq 100 | 28,452.45 | -1.9% |
| Russell 2000 | 2,934.67 | -0.9% |
According to the Benzinga Pro platform:
- The Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (NYSE:VOO) fell 1.2%.
- The SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF Trust (NYSE:DIA) slid 0.9%.
- The Invesco QQQ Trust (NASDAQ:QQQ) dropped 1.9%.
- The iShares Russell 2000 ETF (NYSE:IWM) declined 0.9%.
Defense and Energy Dodge the Selloff As Alphabet, Tesla Gut Big Tech
The Industrials Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLI) led the market, rising 1.9% on a wave of well-received earnings, while the Health Care Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLV) and the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLE) both added about 1.1%, the latter buoyed by the oil spike.
XLE has now gained nearly 13% month-to-date, the strongest of any sector.
The damage was concentrated in growth.
The Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLY) sank 4.4% under the weight of Tesla and Amazon, and the Communication Services Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLC) fell 3% on Alphabet’s slide, while the Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLK) eased 0.9%.
Among industry funds, the U.S. Global Jets ETF (NYSE:JETS) dropped 3.1% as higher fuel costs hit carriers, and the VanEck Gold Miners ETF (NYSE:GDX) fell 2.6% alongside bullion. The First Trust Dow Jones Internet Index Fund (NASDAQ:FDN) and the SPDR S&P Retail ETF (NYSE:XRT) each lost roughly 2.6%.
Industrial earnings drove the day’s biggest winners.
United Rentals Inc. (NYSE:URI) jumped nearly 12% after record second-quarter results, with adjusted EPS of $12.76 topping the $11.44 consensus and management raising full-year revenue guidance to $17.65 billion.
Allegion plc (NYSE:ALLE) rose 12.7% after adjusted EPS of $2.40 beat by 8.3% on 12.7% revenue growth and a raised outlook. Lockheed Martin Corp. (NYSE:LMT) climbed 11.4% after posting second quarter EPS of $7.94 versus $7.20 expected, revenue of $20.1 billion and a lifted full-year sales forecast — a beat amplified by the geopolitical backdrop.
Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE:CLF) soared 18.5%, the Russell 1000’s top gainer, after second-quarter revenue of $5.2 billion beat estimates, adjusted EBITDA tripled to $286 million and the steelmaker guided to record second-half earnings.
Medpace Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MEDP) surged 14.3% on 17.2% revenue growth to $707.3 million and a raised full-year EPS forecast, and Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) rose 9.6% after its own beat.
On the downside, Albertsons Companies Inc. (NYSE:ACI) plunged 23.9%, the worst performer in the Russell 1000, after slashing its fiscal 2026 adjusted EPS outlook to $1.75-$1.85 from $2.22-$2.32 and missing quarterly estimates, with management citing a “more cautious consumer” and softer grocery trends.
Molina Healthcare Inc. (NYSE:MOH) sank 12.1% as full-year revenue guidance of roughly $42 billion landed about 5% below estimates, overshadowing a second-quarter earnings beat, amid industrywide medical-cost worries.
QuantumScape Corp. (NYSE:QS) dropped nearly 14.6% in a reaction to its second-quarter report; the battery developer narrowed its loss to $0.16 per share and touted an expansion into AI data centers and defense, but the shares extended a steep recent decline.
American Airlines Group Inc. (NASDAQ:AAL) fell 8.2% as the oil surge hammered carriers, while capital-markets names Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE:GS) and Robinhood Markets Inc. (NASDAQ:HOOD) each dropped more than 3%.
Thursday’s Russell 1000 Top Gainers
| Name | % change |
|---|---|
| Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. | +18.54% |
| Medpace Holdings, Inc. | +14.26% |
| Allegion plc | +12.73% |
| United Rentals, Inc. | +11.95% |
| Lockheed Martin Corporation | +11.39% |
Thursday’s Russell 1000 Top Losers
| Name | % change |
|---|---|
| Albertsons Companies, Inc. | -23.87% |
| QuantumScape Corporation | -14.57% |
| Tesla, Inc. | -13.01% |
| Molina Healthcare, Inc. | -12.11% |
| Rollins, Inc. (NYSE:ROL) | -9.45% |
Photo: Shutterstock
Recent Comments