Stocks Pare Slide as Oil Whipsaws on US-Iran Talks: Markets Wrap
(Bloomberg) — Wall Street traders lifted stocks away from session lows as oil erased its gain amid signs of progress in US nuclear talks with Iran. Chipmakers sank as Nvidia Corp.’s results failed to inspire investors seeking reassurances about artificial intelligence. Bonds climbed.
While the S&P 500 fell, about 350 of its shares advanced. The Nasdaq 100 lost 1.2%. Even after giving a bullish forecast, Nvidia tumbled 5.5%, dragging down almost every company in a key semiconductor gauge. Salesforce Inc. gave a strong estimate for long-term sales and announced a large share buyback, assuaging some fears about AI disruption of the software industry.
In late hours, Dell Technologies Inc. gave an outlook for sales of its AI servers that exceeded estimates. CoreWeave Inc., an operator of AI data centers, reported a bigger loss than anticipated. Jack Dorsey’s Block Inc. is cutting 4,000 employees, reducing its workforce by nearly half as the financial technology firm places a bet on AI changing the future of labor productivity.
The mixed Wall Street response to earnings reflects uncertainties swirling around the revolutionary technology. After soaring for much of the past few years, Nvidia has gone cold amid questions about massive AI spending. Meanwhile, traders have been fleeing companies seen as potentially under threat of being displaced.
The reason why investors didn’t launch into a frenzy after seeing revenue, net income, and guidance come in way better than expected is that Nvidia rarely misses on those metrics, according to Hardika Singh at Fundstrat Global Advisors.
“But where it did miss was easing investors’ concerns about its narrowing moat in the evolving world of compute and explaining its gameplan for how it’ll fare in a world of AI disruption that could upend all kinds of businesses from cybersecurity to food delivery to banks,” she said.
Michael Burry, who made his name shorting the US housing market, added to the worries. He noted that Nvidia has purchase obligations of $95.2 billion, compared with $16.1 billion a year earlier. That could be risky if demand wavers.
The S&P 500 lost 0.5%. The yield on 10-year Treasuries fell four basis points to 4.01%. The dollar wavered. Oil fell 0.3%. The US and Iran will continue talks next week after making “significant progress,” mediator Oman said.
Nvidia’s earnings and guidance were good, but there are still some questions about whether the firm can maintain its huge gross margins going forward, according to Matt Maley at Miller Tabak.
As we move into March, he sees a few issues that could create some headwinds. Whether it be anxiety over AI profitability, worries over the impact of that technology on several sectors or concerns surrounding the private-credit market, Maley said there are plenty of reasons to think next month will be a rough one for stocks.
“However, momentum is a very powerful force in the marketplace,” he added. “So, if we can see a further advance as we move into March, we might finally see the broad market experience another rally leg off of the 2022 bear-market lows.”
Corporate Highlights:
Warner Bros. Discovery Inc. said a new offer from Paramount Skydance Corp. is a better deal for shareholders than the one it agreed to earlier with Netflix Inc. Flutter Entertainment Plc, owner of the FanDuel gambling platform in the US, reported fourth-quarter results that fell short of Wall Street estimates. Sweetgreen Inc. reported a full-year outlook that fell short of expectations as the fast-casual salad chain continues to contend with declining store traffic. What Bloomberg Strategists say…
“This earnings season has offered plenty of evidence that the price action has overshot fundamentals. However, none of that matters because not even good news can lift up sentiment — and that’s a dangerous zone for stocks be in. The threat is that risk aversion now spills into the broader market, not just tech.”
—Tatiana Darie, Macro Strategist, Markets Live. For the full analysis, click here.
Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
The S&P 500 fell 0.5% as of 4 p.m. New York time The Nasdaq 100 fell 1.2% The Dow Jones Industrial Average was little changed The MSCI World Index fell 0.3% Currencies
The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed The euro was little changed at $1.1801 The British pound fell 0.5% to $1.3491 The Japanese yen rose 0.1% to 156.14 per dollar Cryptocurrencies
Bitcoin fell 2.3% to $67,332.09 Ether fell 3.7% to $2,023.23 Bonds
The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined four basis points to 4.01% Germany’s 10-year yield declined two basis points to 2.69% Britain’s 10-year yield declined four basis points to 4.27% Commodities
Spot gold rose 0.6% to $5,198.07 an ounce ©2026 Bloomberg L.P.
