A trader works at the New York Stock Exchange on October 21, 2026.
New York Stock Exchange
U.S. stock futures were mostly flat Thursday evening after technology stocks sold off on concerns about a slowdown in artificial intelligence trading, at least in the short term.
Futures contracts linked to Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced by 52 points, or 0.1%. S&P 500 Futures Contracts gained 0.06%, and Nasdaq-100 Futures Contracts slipped 0.1%.
In regular trading, the S&P500 sank 1.2%, and the Nasdaq Composite slipped 2.6%. The market benchmark recorded its worst session since July, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq had its worst day since June. THE Dow Industries bucked the trend and closed slightly higher.
In Asia, the reference of South Korea Kospi The index fell 2.42%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 lost 2.1%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index was down 0.47%. Mainland China’s CSI 300 index fell 1.76%, deepening its descent into a technically bearish market. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 index was down 0.21%.
Concerns over artificial intelligence spending weighed on the market and sent the U.S. technology sector down 3% on the day. Nvidia fell 4.4%, Alphabet fell 3.2%, and Advanced microdevices decreased by 8.1%, as losses occurred in different parts of the technology sector.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang told CNBC on Thursday that he believes the capital needed to develop AI is becoming scarce.
“There is a shortage of capital. The demand (for) capital is much higher than the availability of capital,” Huang said, when asked about the neocloud segment of AI development, which is proving fragile.
Ed Yardeni, president of Yardeni Research, on Thursday described the AI business as a “bubble” but said some depressurization wouldn’t be so bad.
“Taking some air out of the AI bubble is a good thing. I don’t think it’s going to burst and create problems for the economy,” he said, pointing to the bond market as a source of capital competition for stocks.
Bond yields eased on Thursday, with the Cash flow at 10 years sliding 18.5 basis points to 4.961% as traders upped the ante on safe-haven assets. The yield on the 30 years slipped 15 basis points and the 2-year yield fell 17.5 basis points.
Brent crude prices soared following a report that the United States and Israel were preparing new attacks on Iran in the regional war that began in late February. Brent jumped 4% to end the session at $113.17, the highest level since May.
For the week, the S&P 500 is heading for a slight gain, up less than 0.1%, while the Nasdaq is down 0.5% for the period. The Dow Jones expects an increase of 1.7%.
On the economic front, traders will await the final reading of the University of Michigan consumer confidence report.
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