Wall Street slid on Thursday as tech shares led a broad retreat, even as investors digested a tentative US-China trade truce and a fresh wave of megacap earnings.
The S&P 500 lost roughly 1%, the Nasdaq Composite fell more than 1.5%, and the Dow Jones finished down 0.2%, marking a session of rotation away from high-flying technology names.
The trade agreement, struck during the Trump-Xi meeting, effectively pauses Beijing’s rare earth export restrictions for 12 months while the US halves fentanyl-related tariffs on China and secures commitments for renewed American soybean purchases. However, the truce left semiconductor policy unresolved, sending AI chip leader Nvidia down more than 2%.
Among the “Magnificent Seven,” results were mixed. Meta shares fell as much as 12% following Wall Street criticism of its heavy AI spending, Microsoft slipped 3%, while Alphabet gained around 5% after surpassing quarterly expectations.
Amazon’s third-quarter results impressed, with EPS of $1.95 on $180.2 billion in revenue, topping analyst forecasts. AWS revenue hit $33.01 billion, boosted by the adoption of its Trainium2 AI chip and the launch of its Project Rainier AI cluster. Shares jumped over 9% after hours.
Apple also reported earnings after the bell, with EPS of $1.85 on revenue of $102.5 billion. The company missed slightly on iPhone sales in China, prompting a 2% drop in stock, but highlighted a record active device base and overall fiscal year revenue of $416 billion.
Despite strong results from some tech giants, questions over AI market share and rising costs for innovation weighed on sentiment.
