Major US stock indices declined on Thursday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropping close to 800 points. US Treasury yields rose for the fourth consecutive day amid ongoing conflict involving Iran, intensifying market concerns about inflation and its potential impact on Federal Reserve policy.
In US markets, the Dow fell by 784.67 points, or 1.61%, closing at 47,954.74. The Nasdaq Composite decreased by 58.50 points, or 0.26%, ending at 22,748.99. The S&P 500 dropped 38.82 points, or 0.57%, finishing at 6,830.68. Southwest Airlines (LUV) declined by 6.8%, while SanDisk (SNDK) fell 5.5%. Broadcom (AVGO) rose 4.8% following its latest earnings report. The Nasdaq Golden Dragon China Index closed down 1.4%.
European markets also saw losses. Germany's DAX 30 index dropped 416.98 points, or 1.72%, to 23,799.28. The UK's FTSE 100 fell 154.76 points, or 1.46%, to 10,412.89. France's CAC 40 decreased by 121.93 points, or 1.49%, to 8,045.80. The Euro Stoxx 50 index declined 89.42 points, or 1.52%, to 5,781.50. Spain's IBEX 35 dropped 271.33 points, or 1.55%, to 17,219.87. Italy's FTSE MIB fell 694.38 points, or 1.53%, to 44,642.50.
In Asian markets, Japan's Nikkei 225 rose 1.9%, South Korea's KOSPI increased 9.63%, and Indonesia's Jakarta Composite Index gained 1.76%.
Cryptocurrencies experienced declines. Bitcoin fell over 1.9% to $71,258.10, while Ethereum dropped more than 2% to $2,082.44.
International oil prices surged significantly. NYMEX April WTI crude rose $6.35 to settle at $81.01 per barrel, an 8.51% gain. ICE May Brent crude increased $4.01 to close at $85.41 per barrel, up 4.93%.
The US Dollar Index, which measures the dollar against six major currencies, advanced 0.56% to 99.316. In late New York trading, one euro traded at $1.1583, down from $1.1625. One pound traded at $1.3328, down from $1.3351. The dollar rose to 157.77 Japanese yen from 157.15, and to 0.7827 Swiss francs from 0.7800. It also increased to 1.3697 Canadian dollars from 1.3669, and to 9.2657 Swedish kronor from 9.1761.
Spot gold fell 1.09% to $5,083.37 per ounce, while spot silver traded at $82.323.
In macroeconomic news, US jobless claims remained nearly unchanged last week while February layoffs dropped sharply, indicating stabilization in the labor market after last year's volatility. Economists attributed last year's fluctuations to uncertainty from broad tariffs implemented under national emergency authority. The Federal Reserve's Beige Book reported employment levels were "generally stable" with seven of twelve districts reporting unchanged hiring. Economists remain optimistic that tax cuts will stimulate demand and restore labor market growth momentum this year.
President Trump's latest global import tariffs face significant legal challenges, with multiple states planning a joint lawsuit. State attorneys general argue the tariffs rely on inappropriate justification under Section 122 of the 1974 Trade Act, claiming the US no longer has balance of payments issues requiring such measures.
US officials are discussing a new regulatory framework for AI chip exports that could require foreign nations to invest in US AI data centers or provide security assurances when seeking large quantities of chips. The proposed system would categorize countries into four tiers, with exports exceeding 200,000 AI chips potentially requiring US data center investments. This represents the first attempt to regulate AI chip exports to allies since previous administration rules were revoked.
OpenAI released its flagship GPT-5.4 model and new financial services tools designed to handle office tasks more efficiently. The new model shows improved performance in generating spreadsheets, documents, and presentations with fewer interactions. It also demonstrates enhanced capability to gather information from multiple web sources, perform analysis, and generate responses. New tools integrate ChatGPT with financial data from companies including FactSet Research Systems and Third Bridge, with direct functionality available in Microsoft Excel and Google Sheets for financial modeling.
The World Gold Council reported global gold ETFs saw $5.3 billion in net inflows during February, marking the ninth consecutive month of inflows and the strongest annual start on record. Rising gold prices pushed total assets under management to a record $701 billion, with global holdings reaching 4,171 metric tons. North America and Asia were primary drivers of inflows, while Europe experienced outflows early in the month following late-January selling pressure. Global average daily trading volume declined to $478 billion but remained well above 2025 levels.
Oracle (ORCL) plans to cut thousands of jobs to address funding shortages resulting from AI development demands. The layoffs are expected to affect various departments and may begin this month, targeting positions where demand is anticipated to decrease due to AI advancements. Wall Street analysts project the company's cloud division data center spending will maintain negative cash flow for several years, with returns not expected until around 2030. Oracle announced plans last month to raise up to $50 billion through combined debt and equity offerings.
The US is preparing to expand AI chip export controls globally, requiring licenses for nearly all AI accelerators shipped by companies including NVIDIA (NVDA) and AMD (AMD). Draft regulations would give US authorities broad discretion over whether and under what conditions other countries can build AI training and operational facilities. The expansion would extend current restrictions covering approximately 40 countries to worldwide coverage, positioning the US government as a gatekeeper for the AI industry by requiring Commerce Department approval for accelerator purchases.
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