Kamal Ghorui
Microsoft led a pullback on Wall Street on Thursday, with US stocks retreating from record levels after the tech heavyweight logged its steepest single-day fall in years, weighing on broader market sentiment. While gold prices also reversed sharply after a blistering run, reflecting a broader cooling of risk appetite across global markets.Microsoft sank 12.3% despite reporting better-than-expected profit and revenue for the latest quarter. Investors focused instead on the scale of its capital spending, concerns over a potential slowdown in Azure cloud growth, and uncertainty over when its heavy investments in artificial intelligence will translate into meaningful profits. The stock was on track for its worst day since the Covid-led market crash of 2020 and accounted for more than half of the S&P 500’s decline.The S&P 500 fell 1.1% after briefly hovering near an all-time high earlier in the session. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 203 points, or 0.4%, while the Nasdaq Composite dropped 2.1%.Tesla also weighed on sentiment, slipping 2% after posting higher-than-expected quarterly profit that was still sharply lower than a year earlier. Chief executive Elon Musk has urged investors to look beyond weak car sales towards the company’s ambitions in robotaxis and robotics.Several other large technology stocks came under pressure. ServiceNow tumbled 10.7% despite delivering a profit beat, extending a slide that has been under way since last summer.Gains elsewhere offered only limited support. Meta Platforms rose 7.4% after topping earnings expectations, even as it reiterated plans for heavy AI-related investments. IBM climbed 5.7% on strong results, while Southwest Airlines surged 12.9% after issuing an upbeat earnings outlook for 2026 despite a quarterly profit miss.In commodities, gold prices reversed sharply after touching fresh highs earlier in the day. Bullion briefly traded near $5,600 an ounce before sliding back to $5,274.30, down 1.2% on the day, after crossing the $5,000 mark for the first time earlier this week. Silver fell 1.6%, while bitcoin dropped more than 5% to below $85,000.Market participants said the pullback reflected profit-taking after what many viewed as an overheated rally in precious metals driven by concerns over geopolitical risks, high government debt and stretched equity valuations.In bond markets, the yield on the 10-year US Treasury eased to 4.23% from 4.26% late Wednesday. The Federal Reserve on Wednesday paused its rate-cut cycle, citing inflation that remains above its 2% target. President Donald Trump renewed criticism of Fed Chair Jerome Powell, pressing again for lower interest rates.Overseas, equity markets were largely higher, with South Korea’s Kospi rising 1% to a fresh record, helped by gains in chipmaker SK Hynix, according to AP.
