S&P 500 falls as traders turn sour on tech

 The S&P 500 fell Thursday, as sellers returned to tech with AI names including Nvidia the hardest hit amid concerns about valuations while data flagged concerns about the labor market.   

At 12:49 p.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 402 points, or 0.9%, while the S&P 500 index fell 1.4%, and the NASDAQ Composite slipped 1.4%. 

Nvidia leads bleed in tech amid valuations concerns; Tesla slumps ahead of vote on Musk $1tn pay package

NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) fell more than 4%, leading the decline in a slew of AI-related names as valuation concerns returned following a reprieve a day earlier.   

Palantir Technologies Inc (NASDAQ:PLTR), Dell Technologies Inc (NYSE:DELL), and Advanced Micro Devices Inc (NASDAQ:AMD) were sharply lower.

On the earnings front, shares of Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM) slipped lower after the chip designer unveiled that it may lose some business from top customer Samsung Electronics next year.

The announcement overshadowed current-quarter sales and profit forecasts from the chip designer that surpassed Wall Street expectations thanks in large part to demand for premium smartphones.

On the flip side, fellow chip technology provider Arm Holdings (NASDAQ:ARM) gained after its fiscal third-quarter outlook surpassed estimates, buoyed by heavy recent AI spending throughout the tech industry. 

Elsewhere, Snap (NYSE:SNAP) stock surged after the social media firm beat quarterly revenue estimates and narrowed its net loss, and ride-hailing platform LYFT (NASDAQ:LYFT) gained after reporting higher quarterly revenue and returning to profitability.

Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) stock jumped after the drugmaker reported a sharp drop in third-quarter revenue, but still topped consensus estimates, while also narrowing its full-year sales forecast.

Datadog (NASDAQ:DDOG) stock gained after the cloud monitoring company reported third quarter results that exceeded expectations, delivering strong revenue growth and raising its outlook for the remainder of the year.

Warner Bros Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD) stock fell after the entertainment giant reported disappointing quarterly revenue, squeezed by lackluster growth in its streaming unit and persistent declines in its cable TV business.

Marvell Technology (NASDAQ:MRVL) stock jumped after Bloomberg reported SoftBank Group explored a potential takeover of the U.S. chipmaker earlier this year, with plans to merge it with Arm Holdings.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) shareholders are also expected to decide today on a massive compensation package for CEO Elon Musk.

On the economic front, job cuts hit the highest level for the month in 22 years, according to outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas.

Are Trump’s tariffs legal?

Also attracting investors’ attention was the Supreme Court examining whether Trump’s sweeping tariffs violated U.S. law.

On Wednesday, the high court began hearing oral arguments on Trump’s usage of the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act, or IEEPA, as legal backing for the levies. The matter has been brought before the Supreme Court after lower courts ruled that the president had surpassed his authority by employing the measures.

The case, which could reshape presidential trade powers, carries major implications for U.S.-China relations and global markets.