Wall Street ended Thursday nearly where it began after a session marked by dramatic swings that faded into relatively modest losses and gains by the close. In New York, the S&P 500 slipped 0.1% after coming close to record levels earlier in the day and later dropping as much as 1.5%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 55 points, or 0.1%, after erasing an earlier loss of more than 400 points, while the Nasdaq composite fell 0.7%.
Microsoft drove much of the day’s volatility for the broad market. The stock fell 10% even though the company reported profit and revenue for the latest quarter that were stronger than analysts expected. Investors, however, concentrated on how much Microsoft is spending on investments and on whether growth in its Azure cloud business will slow, as well as on the timeline for its push into artificial-intelligence technology to translate into significant profits.
Other mega-cap results also shaped the session. Tesla weighed on the market after falling 3.5% as investors assessed quarterly results that beat analysts’ expectations on profit but came in sharply lower than a year earlier. The news also noted how Elon Musk has been urging investors to focus less on flagging car sales and more on Tesla’s robotaxis and robots. ServiceNow dropped 9.9% despite reporting a stronger-than-expected quarterly profit, with analysts praising the results but the stock’s decline continuing from a slide that has been underway since the summer.
Still, not all results failed to find buyers. Meta Platforms rallied 10.4% after the company behind Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp topped profit expectations, even as it said it will continue its massive investments in artificial intelligence. IBM climbed 5.1% after surpassing analysts’ expectations for profit and revenue, and Southwest Airlines rose 18.7% higher despite reporting profit that fell short of forecasts. The article said Southwest Airlines also issued a 2026 earnings forecast that exceeded analysts’ expectations, pointing to changes including charging baggage fees and having assigned seating.
The day’s sharpest whipsaws were not only in stocks. Gold’s price rallied near $5,600 per ounce in the morning before suddenly and briefly dropping back below $5,200, then steadied and rose modestly to another record. The article said gold had topped $5,000 for the first time only on Monday and that it had nearly doubled over the previous 12 months. Silver followed a similar pattern, reversing momentum before ticking higher again.
The AP piece linked the surge in precious metals to safe-haven buying as investors weigh a range of risks. It pointed to criticism that the U.S. stock market is expensive, along with political instability, tariff threats, and heavy government debt worldwide. At the same time, it cautioned that safety can come at a price after the rapid rise in gold and silver drew criticism that their prices had gone “too far, too fast” and were due for a pullback. Bitcoin, which the report described as being pitched as “digital gold,” also fell sharply, sinking nearly 6% toward about $84,000.
Currency and rates moves underscored the broader risk sentiment. The dollar has fallen over the last year because of some of the same risks that have driven gold higher, but the article said the dollar held relatively steady against the British pound and euro. In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury dipped to 4.23% from 4.26% late Wednesday.
Oil and foreign markets also reflected shifting expectations. Oil prices rose roughly 3.5% on worries about potentially rising tensions between the United States and Iran that could ultimately constrict crude flows. The report said Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth warned the U.S. military “will be prepared to deliver whatever the president expects,” a day after President Donald Trump told Iran to “make a deal” on its nuclear program. Outside the U.S., indexes rose across much of the rest of the world, including South Korea’s Kospi, which climbed 1% and reached another record in part on chipmaker SK Hynix.