Wall Street Sinks as Tech Rout Deepens; Qualcomm Leads Selloff, Yields Slide on Weak U.S. Labor Data

Major U.S. indexes tumbled amid a broad tech pullback and disappointing labor data, with Qualcomm's sharp drop weighing on sentiment while Treasury yields fell as investors shifted toward safety.

The Nasdaq plunged 363.99 points (1.6%) to 22,540.59, the S&P 500 tumbled 84.32 points (1.2%) to 6,798.40 and the Dow slumped 592.58 points (1.2%) to 48,908.72.

Weakness in tech stocks continued to drag Wall Street lower, led by a sharp 8.5% drop in Qualcomm (QCOM) after the chipmaker reported strong fiscal first-quarter earnings but gave disappointing guidance for the current quarter. Alphabet (GOOGL) also slipped 0.5%, paring earlier losses, as upbeat fourth-quarter results were offset by a forecast of sharply higher capital spending in 2026. Broader concerns about valuations and the impact of artificial intelligence have weighed heavily on the tech sector in recent sessions.

 

In U.S. economic news, initial jobless claims surged to 231,000 for the week ended January 31, up 22,000 from the prior week and well above expectations. Job openings also declined to their lowest level in more than five years, signaling a cooling labor market. Due to a short government shutdown earlier this week, the Labor Department postponed its monthly jobs report to next Wednesday.

Gold stocks moved sharply lower along with the price of the precious metal, resulting in a 6.3% nosedive by the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index. Software and computer hardware stocks saw substantial weakness, dragging the Dow Jones U.S. Software Index and the NYSE Arca Computer Hardware Index by 5.1% and 4.2%. A steep drop by the price of crude oil also weighed on oil service stocks, as reflected by the 3.1% plunge by the Philadelphia Oil Service Index. Financial, retail and pharmaceutical stocks also saw considerable weakness, moving lower along with most of the major sectors.

Asia-Pacific stocks moved mostly lower. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index slumped by 0.9%, while China's Shanghai Composite Index fell by 0.6%. The major European markets moved downwards while the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index slid by 0.9%, the German DAX Index declined by 0.5% and the French CAC 40 Index dipped by 0.3%.

In the bond market, treasuries moved sharply higher in reaction to the latest U.S. jobs data. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note which moves opposite of its price, slumped 6.5 bps to 4.21%.

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