The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 875 points to close at a record 50,687.07 on Thursday, its highest level ever, according to The Wall Street Journal. UnitedHealth Group shares rose 5.2% after Bank of America upgraded the stock, and financial-sector components including Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, and American Express each posted gains of 3.3% or more.
The S&P 500 rose 0.4% to 7,553.68, with the index’s financials sector registering its largest single-day gain since April 2025. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite edged lower by less than 0.1% after falling more than 1% earlier in the session.
“The rotation into financials is a beneficiary of a bloated trade in AI infrastructure spending,” said Keith Buchanan, senior portfolio manager at Globalt Investments. “It’s a safe haven in moments like this.”
Broadcom shares tumbled 13% after the semiconductor and software maker’s guidance on AI demand failed to meet lofty investor expectations. The stock lost $286 billion in market capitalization, the fourth-largest one-day market-cap decline for any U.S. company on record, the Journal reported. The selloff cascaded through other AI-linked stocks: Micron Technology fell 7.7% and Advanced Micro Devices dropped 3.6%. The PHLX Semiconductor Index, which includes Nvidia, Intel, and Micron, declined 2.2%.
“This is a nonchip rally,” said Jay Hatfield, chief executive officer and portfolio manager at Infrastructure Capital Advisors.
For some investors, the Dow’s outperformance was a welcome sign that the bull market is broadening after months of being dominated by AI and megacap technology stocks. The Russell 2000 index, which tracks smaller companies, gained 1.4%.
“Over the last couple months, we’ve seen technology and AI-related companies leading the gains, and today the rest of the market is picking up that slack,” said Bill Merz, head of capital markets research and portfolio construction at U.S. Bank.
Other market participants pointed to the afternoon recovery in tech shares — Nvidia gained 1.9% — as evidence that broader appetite for AI remains intact. “There’s nothing to support the fact that all these companies should be dumped, just because Broadcom’s got a problem,” said Julian Koski, chief investment officer of New Age Alpha. “Today’s tech selloff is an overreaction to Broadcom’s results because there’s no evidence to suggest that the AI trade is weakening.”
Meanwhile, oil prices broke a three-session streak of gains after Israel and Lebanon agreed to renew their fragile ceasefire, which had become a sticking point in U.S.-Iran talks to end the war. President Trump hinted on social media Thursday that negotiations were at an advanced stage. Brent crude, the international oil benchmark, dropped 2.8% to $95.03 a barrel, the Journal reported.
Bitcoin extended its declines to a fifth day, trading at around $63,570 as of 4 p.m. ET, erasing about half of its value since reaching an early-October peak above $126,000.