US equity benchmarks retreated as losses in major artificial intelligence names outweighed resilience in other sectors ahead of a heavy earnings calendar. The Nasdaq 100 slipped 1% and the S&P 500 declined 0.5%, both easing back from record highs. Sentiment toward the AI theme deteriorated further after reports that OpenAI missed internal targets for user growth and sales, intensifying doubts over whether the recent wave of AI-related capital expenditure is justified. The shift in mood prompted broad selling across both software and semiconductor names. Oracle and CoreWeave each fell around 5%, while Nvidia, Broadcom, and Micron lost nearly 3%.
The pressure also extended to the large cloud and platform providers, with Meta, Microsoft, and Alphabet trading lower ahead of their earnings releases scheduled for after tomorrow’s closing bell. By contrast, the Dow Jones Industrial Average edged higher, supported by gains in more traditional and defensive sectors, even as elevated energy prices linked to the war and the threat of prolonged restrictive monetary policy continued to pose headwinds for the US economy. Visa, JPMorgan, and Johnson & Johnson each advanced close to 1%.