U.S. stocks finished mixed Thursday as Brent crude climbed back above $104 a barrel and heavy technology names dragged the Nasdaq composite down 1.3 percent, even as a choppy Treasury market offered brief relief to rate-sensitive sectors.
The S&P 500 fell 36.41 points, or 0.5 percent, to 7,765.36, according to composite data reported by the Associated Press. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 51.77 points to 51,231.64, while the Nasdaq composite slid 345.35 points to 27,193.34 as investors repriced AI-linked hardware after weeks of lofty expectations.
Oil and rates pull in opposite directions
Brent crude, the international benchmark, rose 4.1 percent to $104.28 as traders weighed how long Middle East shipping disruptions might keep barrels off the market. Energy shares gained, but the broader index suffered because technology companies consume both investor enthusiasm and corporate cash — higher fuel costs raise input prices while higher yields raise the discount rate on future earnings.
Bond traders faced their own whiplash. The 10-year Treasury yield opened Thursday near 5.35 percent after closing Wednesday at 5.28 percent, then retreated to 5.23 percent as a $22 billion 30-year auction drew strong demand. The 30-year yield fell from about 5.73 percent in morning trading to roughly 5.60 percent by the close, a sizable move for a market that has spent months testing decade highs.
Tech leadership wobbles
Nvidia fell 2.9 percent, making it the heaviest single drag on the S&P 500 despite smaller percentage drops elsewhere. Broadcom slid 4.3 percent and Micron Technology lost 4.8 percent as investors questioned whether AI infrastructure spending can keep outpacing borrowing costs.
Two-thirds of S&P 500 components still rose on the day, a reminder that the headline index can fall even when most stocks advance — concentration in a handful of mega-cap names magnifies any wobble in chip demand forecasts or export rules.
What holders should watch Friday
With Brent pinballing between the mid-$90s and nearly $110 over the past month, portfolio managers are hedging both inflation and growth scares. A further spike in crude would pressure airlines and retailers entering the holiday build, while another backup in long-term yields could revive last week's debate over whether the Federal Reserve can cut rates into a supply shock.
Retail investors with 401(k) balances tied to broad index funds felt Thursday's session as a modest pullback, not a crash — the S&P 500 remains within a few percentage points of its recent peak. The more immediate question is whether oil and bond markets settle before third-quarter earnings guidance arrives in force next week, when companies will have to quantify fuel surcharges and interest expense on the same call.