Stocks Waver After AI Scare as Gold Hits $5,000: Markets Wrap
(Bloomberg) — Stocks struggled for direction after a selloff in software shares, while gold reclaimed the $5,000-an-ounce mark.
Economically sensitive shares were Wednesday’s biggest gainers, with futures for the Russell 2000 index of small caps advancing 0.4%. S&P 500 contracts rose 0.1% ahead of Alphabet Inc. earnings, while those for the Nasdaq 100 dropped 0.3%. Advanced Micro Devices Inc. fell 9% in early trading on an underwhelming sales forecast. In Europe, chemicals and auto shares outperformed.
The rotation into cyclical stocks persisted as renewed fears over AI-driven disruption weighed on markets. Tuesday’s selloff was sparked by a new automation tool from Anthropic PBC, with losses spilling into financial services and asset managers. Caution lingered on Wednesday, with a European basket of stocks seen at risk from AI disruption falling another 1.2%.
“I don’t think the market has fully resolved whether this move was based on fear or fundamentals. What’s clear is that we’ve had a confidence break, really, at the category level,” said Stephanie Niven, portfolio manager at Ninety One. “Before convictions can be rebuilt at that really important company level, we are seeing this kind-of indiscriminate selling.”
Treasuries were little changed even after US companies added fewer jobs than expected in December. The dollar rose 0.1%. Bitcoin hovered near $76,000. The yen extended losses as traders anticipated a victory for Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s Liberal Democratic Party in this weekend’s poll.
Disruption fears have added a new layer of complexity in distinguishing winners from losers in AI. With valuations stretched and earnings season under way, investors have already punished companies that failed to live up to elevated expectations.
What Bloomberg Strategists Say:
“AI will disrupt markets and replace jobs, but it will also raise incomes, pointing to stronger growth and equity gains. Recent price action highlights this dynamic. Legal-tech names came under pressure after Anthropic released a tool capable of automating much of their work. For broad index investors, however, those declines were more than offset by gains across the AI supply chain.”
— Skylar Montgomery Koning, macro strategist. For full analysis, click here.
Another test looms when Alphabet reports after the close. Google’s parent has been the top performer among the Magnificent Seven megacaps since the beginning of 2025. Peers Microsoft Corp. and Meta Platforms Inc. saw divergent reactions to their results last week, reflecting views over whether heavy AI spending is paying off.
“The biggest risk regarding tonight’s publication is the fact that there is a decoupling between Google’s long-term stature as an AI winner, thanks to its vertically integrated approach, and short-term trends in search and monetization, which might prove more erratic,” said Jacques-Aurélien Marcireau, co-head of equities at Edmond de Rothschild Asset Management.
The mood among investors over software stocks and other sectors deemed at risk of AI advances is grim, according to JPMorgan Chase & Co. analyst Toby Ogg.
Ogg met more than 50 investors across Europe and the US over two weeks and said he found that they had significantly reduced software holdings over the past 12 to 18 months. Even after the latest pullback, “the general appetite to step in remains generally low,” he said in a client note.
“There’s clearly indiscriminate selling across the entire software cluster,” said Karen Kharmandarian, senior equity investment manager at Mirova in Paris. “There’s no floor, the downward momentum is too strong. It looks a bit like capitulation, which could offer opportunities selectively once things stabilize”.
Corporate Highlights:
Eli Lilly & Co. provided an upbeat sales forecast for the year Wednesday as strong demand for its weight loss drug cemented its position at the top of the obesity market. Uber Technologies Inc. gave a weak profit outlook and promoted an outspoken driverless-vehicle bull to be its new chief financial officer, signaling further investment in a closely watched area of the ride-hailing company’s business. Texas Instruments Inc. has reached an agreement to buy the US chip firm Silicon Laboratories Inc. in a deal valued at $7.5 billion. Novo Nordisk A/S shocked investors by forecasting a steep decline in sales this year, a sign of how intensifying price wars in obesity drugs and the Trump administration’s pressure on pharmaceutical prices will hit the company’s results. UBS Group AG posted profit which beat expectations in the fourth quarter, as the bank announced a $3 billion buyback program for 2026 with the potential for more. GSK Plc reported better-than-expected profit in the fourth quarter, buoyed by its HIV and asthma medicines. Credit Agricole SA fell short of analysts’ profit estimates for the fourth quarter as costs rose to revamp its Italian business and it set aside more money for souring loans and other risks. Infineon Technologies AG said it would ramp up spending on its technology for data centers, aiming to grow revenue as demand for artificial intelligence solutions picks up speed. Advanced Micro Devices Inc. shares tumbled in late trading after the chipmaker’s sales forecast underwhelmed investors, a sign that it’s not making the AI inroads that some on Wall Street anticipated. Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
S&P 500 futures rose 0.1% as of 8:22 a.m. New York time Nasdaq 100 futures fell 0.3% Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.2% The Stoxx Europe 600 rose 0.4% The MSCI World Index was little changed Currencies
The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.1% The euro was little changed at $1.1817 The British pound rose 0.1% to $1.3717 The Japanese yen fell 0.6% to 156.66 per dollar Cryptocurrencies
Bitcoin fell 0.6% to $75,649.07 Ether fell 2.5% to $2,224.88 Bonds
The yield on 10-year Treasuries was little changed at 4.27% Germany’s 10-year yield declined two basis points to 2.87% Britain’s 10-year yield was little changed at 4.52% Commodities
West Texas Intermediate crude rose 0.3% to $63.39 a barrel Spot gold rose 2% to $5,045.13 an ounce This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.
–With assistance from Julien Ponthus and Henry Ren.
©2026 Bloomberg L.P.
