Dow Jones Hits Record Highs, Oracle Sinks On AI Concerns: What's Moving Markets Thursday?

The Dow Jones Industrial Average pushed to fresh record highs Thursday as investors rotated out of expensive tech stocks and into industrials, financials and healthcare. Broader risk appetite stayed firm after the Federal Reserve delivered its third straight interest-rate cut a day earlier.

The Dow gained 1.3% to 48,685 by 1:00 p.m. ET Thursday, following a 1.1% gain a day earlier on track for the best 2-day rally since May.

Small caps continued to break new ground, with the Russell 2000 up 1% at 2,590. The S&P 500 held the flat line, while the Nasdaq 100 slipped 0.6% as chipmakers dragged the benchmark lower.

Shares of Oracle Corp. (NASDAQ:ORCL) sank 12% after earnings and guidance disappointed Wall Street.

Revenue growth was solid but came in shy of expectations, while the company sharply lifted its fiscal 2026 capital-expenditure forecast to support AI data-center buildouts. The step-up in spending revived concerns that heavy AI investments may take longer to generate returns, weighing on sentiment across the tech complex.

Nvidia Corp. (NASDAQ:NVDA) fell 2.5%, Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) dropped 2.3% and Intel Corp. (NASDAQ:INTC) lost 3%. Technology was the only S&P 500 sector trading in the red.

On the macro front, initial jobless claims jumped to 236,000 for the week ending Dec. 6, up from a three-year low of 192,000 and above the 220,000 consensus. The increase suggested early signs of cooling in labor-market conditions.

Despite the data, traders continued to bet that the Fed will hold rates unchanged at its late-January meeting after Chair Jerome Powell signaled a wait-and-see approach. Polymarket pricing showed an 82% probability of no move.

The dollar slipped to a two-month low, falling for a second straight session.

Gold rose 1.1% to $4,280 an ounce, copper climbed nearly 2% and silver surged 3.7% to a record $64, marking its third straight all-time high. Silver is up 121% year to date, outpacing all major assets.

Crypto markets stayed under pressure. Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) dropped 2.5% below $90,000, while Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH), Solana (CRYPTO: SOL) and Cardano (CRYPTO: ADA) lost 4.2%, 3.9% and 9.2%. Shares of Strategy Inc. (NASDAQ:MSTR) fell 5.4%.

Thursday's Performance In Major US Indices, ETFs

According to Benzinga Pro data:

• The Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (NYSE:VOO) flattened at $632.09.
• The SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average (NYSE:DIA) moved 1.22% to $487.21.
• The tech-heavy Invesco QQQ Trust Series (NASDAQ:QQQ) eased 0.72% to $623.09.
• The iShares Russell 2000 ETF (NYSE:IWM) traded at $257.31.
• The Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLK) lagged, down 1.1%; the Materials Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLB) outperformed, up 2.0%.

Russell 1000’s Top 5 Gainers And Losers On Thursday

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