A few heavyweights outweighed the majority

The split inside the market was the defining feature of the day. Weakness among tech stocks was so concentrated that it hid strength in the rest of the US market: two out of every three stocks in the S&P 500 rose on Thursday, only to be drowned out by drops in more influential names.

• •The S&P 500 fell 93.74 points, or 1.2%, to 7,663.43 - its worst day since July
• •The Nasdaq composite dropped 2.6%, down 694.00 to 26,008.86
• •The Dow Jones Industrial Average bucked the trend, adding 11.89 points, or less than 0.1%, to 52,867.98

Nvidia was the single strongest force pulling the S&P 500 lower. Because the chip giant is the largest company on Wall Street by total value, its 4.4% slide carried more weight than the broad gains beneath it.

Earnings beat, stocks still fell

Many of the falling AI names had reported results better than or close to expectations, yet dropped anyway. The pressure reflects worries that the boom may be under threat because borrowing to build datacenters and purchase AI chips has grown so costly, and that prices had climbed too high.

• •Lam Research reported slightly stronger-than-expected profit and revenue gains for the summer, but its stock tumbled 11.8%
• •Tesla fell 3.1% after a stronger summer profit than analysts expected, though revenue came in weaker than forecast
• •CoreWeave dropped 10.1% as its debt came under scrutiny; the company has taken on borrowings to purchase Nvidia chips that it then rents out over the cloud
• •Meta Platforms lost 7% after reporting stronger-than-expected quarterly revenue but a profit that fell short, shedding tens of billions in market value

Meta also said it was creating a new class of stock to raise money to pay for AI investments and other expenses.

Winners and world markets

Away from tech, companies that topped summer profit expectations limited the market's losses. Procter & Gamble, Lockheed Martin and CSX were among the latest to join that list. Procter & Gamble stood by its full-year forecasts even as CEO Shailesh Jejurikar said the company expected "geopolitical and economic challenges" to continue; its stock rose 5.6%.

Stock markets worldwide were mostly lower. South Korea's Kospi slid 3.5%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng gave up 3% and Japan's Nikkei 225 sank 2.7%. In Europe, French government bond yields jumped, and that helped make the CAC 40's 1.4% retreat one of the sharpest on the continent. Violent protests across France have raised pressure on the government to increase spending, adding to worries about its debt load and strained budget.

Oil at five-month highs and bonds sought out

Oil prices jumped alongside the equity declines. A barrel of Brent crude leaped 4% to $113.17 after touching its highest level in five months, up from less than $97 at the start of the month. The climb reflects uncertainty about when the war with Iran will allow the global energy industry to return to normal.

The 10-year US Treasury yield fell to 4.97%, down from 5.13% late on Wednesday and from more than 5.30% earlier this month, as investors bought US bonds for safety. A separate report showed fewer US workers applied for unemployment benefits last week, which could signal that layoffs remain low.