Stock Market Today: Dow, S&P 500, Nasdaq Sink as Big Tech Drops and Oil Surges Amid Iran War

Wall Street lost momentum in a sharp risk-off session on Thursday as investors pulled back from growth stocks, chip names, and many of the market’s biggest winners. The sell-off hit hardest in technology, where heavyweight names dragged the broader market lower, while an oil rally tied to the Iran war added a fresh inflation shock just as traders were already questioning the path for interest rates.

By the closing bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 470.06 points, or 1.01%, to 45,959.43. The S&P 500 dropped 114.78 points, or 1.74%, to 6,477.12. The steepest decline came in the Nasdaq Composite, which slid 521.75 points, or 2.38%, to 21,408.08. That move pushed the tech-heavy benchmark into correction territory, leaving it more than 10% below its recent record high of 23,958.47.

The market tone darkened as traders weighed two pressures at once: geopolitical anxiety in the Middle East and fresh cracks in the high-valuation tech trade. Oil remained central to that story. Brent crude held above $102 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate moved above $94 before easing slightly. That kind of price action matters beyond the energy patch. Higher crude feeds directly into inflation expectations, fuel costs, transport costs, and consumer pressure, which in turn can change expectations for Federal Reserve policy.

That fear was visible across asset classes. The 10-year Treasury yield climbed to 4.42%, reflecting a market trying to price in hotter inflation and fewer near-term rate cuts. A rising yield backdrop is especially difficult for expensive growth stocks, and Thursday’s action showed it. Traders moved quickly out of richly valued names, particularly in the semiconductor and platform space.

Big Tech took the brunt of the damage. Meta plunged 7.92% to $547.75, one of the day’s biggest drags after a landmark legal ruling raised fresh questions about litigation risk for social media companies. Alphabet also came under pressure, with investor sentiment toward the digital advertising and platform complex suddenly more fragile. The concern was not limited to legal headlines. Markets also reacted to new Google research around AI memory efficiency, a development that rattled parts of the semiconductor trade by raising new questions about future demand for memory-related hardware.

That reaction spread quickly through chip and AI-linked names. Micron fell 7%, Sandisk dropped more than 10%, and Nvidia lost around 3%. The move was notable because semiconductors have been among the market’s strongest leadership groups for much of the broader AI rally. Once those names start breaking lower together, the Nasdaq usually feels it immediately.

The so-called Magnificent Seven also looked far less magnificent in Thursday’s session. Most of the group traded in the red, adding to a growing sense that investors are rotating away from momentum-heavy trades. Apple stood out as a rare point of relative strength, edging slightly higher after a report suggested the company may open Siri to outside AI assistants as part of a broader upgrade strategy. But one green mega-cap stock was nowhere near enough to offset the pressure from the rest of the complex.

Outside technology, several single-stock stories added to the day’s market churn. JetBlue fell about 5.05% to $4.51 after renewed focus on strategic options and reports that the airline has weighed a possible sale scenario. Wave Life Sciences collapsed 49.59% to $6.20 after disappointing obesity-drug data. On the other side of the tape, Brown-Forman rose 9.01% to $26.02 after a report on possible merger talks, while Olaplex surged more than 51% on takeover news.

Economic data offered little relief. Weekly jobless claims came in at 210,000, matching expectations and up modestly from the prior week’s 205,000. Continuing claims fell to 1.82 million. On most days, those numbers would support the idea of a still-resilient labor market. But Thursday was not a normal day. Traders were more focused on the inflation impact of energy and the broader uncertainty hanging over geopolitics.

That is why the oil story mattered so much more than a routine labor-market release. If crude remains elevated, investors will have to start thinking more seriously about margin pressure, softer consumer spending, and a Federal Reserve that may stay tighter for longer. The latest jobless-claims update from the Associated Press report on the labor market reinforced that the jobs picture is stable for now, but the market clearly fears that persistent energy pressure could change the economic backdrop in the months ahead.

For investors, Thursday’s action was a reminder that markets can reprice quickly when crowded leadership trades collide with geopolitical risk. The Nasdaq’s drop into correction territory is psychologically important, especially after such a strong run in AI and mega-cap names. The S&P 500 is now dealing with a broader valuation debate, while the Dow’s decline shows this was not just a narrow tech washout but a wider retreat in risk appetite.

The bigger question now is whether this turns into a deeper reset or remains a sharp but temporary pullback. Much will depend on oil, Treasury yields, and whether the Iran war escalates further. For now, the message from Thursday was clear: the market is no longer pricing perfection, and Big Tech is no longer acting like a one-way trade.