S&P 500 Slips as Oil Surge and Nvidia Selloff Weigh on Markets
CNBC reported Thursday that the S&P 500 oil surge combination pushed the broad index down 0.3% during midday trading. The Nasdaq Composite shed 0.4%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost roughly 70 points, or 0.1%.
Oil Jumps on Iran Uranium Directive
Crude prices were the sharpest catalyst for the afternoon slide. West Texas Intermediate futures climbed 3% to $102 per barrel. Brent crude rose by the same margin to $108 per barrel. The catalyst was a Reuters report citing sources who said Iran’s supreme leader had directed officials to keep enriched uranium inside the country. That move further clouds any near-term resolution to the ongoing U.S.-Iran conflict.
Rising oil prices quickly filtered into bond markets. The benchmark 10-year Treasury yield added 4 basis points to reach 4.615%. The 30-year bond yield climbed 2 basis points to 5.14%. Traders are growing concerned that sticky crude prices could reignite inflation pressures.
The Wealth Alliance CEO Robert Conzo told CNBC that oil staying at or above $100 could generate “short-term concerns” around inflation and headline risk. He noted, however, that the Cboe Volatility Index hovering near 17 suggests investors remain broadly comfortable. He cited AI expansion, solid earnings, and low unemployment as offsetting forces.
Nvidia Clears the Bar but Falls Short of the Hype
Chipmaker Nvidia posted quarterly results that topped Wall Street forecasts on both earnings and forward guidance. The company also raised its quarterly cash dividend to 25 cents per share. Despite those achievements, shares fell more than 1% on the day.
Conzo’s take was blunt. He said investors have grown so accustomed to Nvidia outperforming that expectations have outrun what is reasonably achievable. “They just want more to the point where more becomes unrealistic,” he told CNBC.
Jefferies analyst Janardan Menon offered a more upbeat read on the Nvidia print. He argued that the company’s push into the CPU market, through its Vera and Vera-Rubin architectures, could lift Arm Holdings significantly. Menon said combined shipment volumes could push Arm’s share of hyperscaler CPU deployments beyond the current 50% threshold.
Background: Wednesday’s Rally Sets Up Thursday’s Reversal
Thursday’s losses follow a sharp rebound the prior session. The S&P 500 snapped a three-day losing streak on Wednesday after President Donald Trump said negotiations with Iran had entered their “final stages.” That optimism lifted equities as oil prices and yields retreated simultaneously.
Small-Caps and Pharma Buck the Trend
Not every corner of the market suffered. The small-cap Russell 2000 gained 0.2%, outperforming the three major averages. Bloom Energy surged nearly 11% to a fresh 52-week high. Semiconductor firm Credo Technology added more than 5%.
Eli Lilly shares posted modest gains after new clinical trial data for its next-generation obesity drug retatrutide showed patients on the highest dose lost up to 28% of body weight over 80 weeks. JPMorgan analyst Chris Scott called the results consistent with “Best-in-Class” efficacy for the pharmaceutical company.
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