Thursday brought a broad-based retreat across U.S. equity markets, with all four major indices closing firmly in the red. The S&P 500 fell 0.84% to 7,633.63, the Nasdaq dropped 0.72% to 25,806.76, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 1.27% to close at 52,418.67. Small caps bore the brunt of the selling, with the Russell 2000 tumbling 1.34% to 2,964.79 — underscoring that the risk-off move was not confined to any single corner of the market.
The session's tone was defensive from the open, with sellers maintaining pressure through the afternoon. Amazon's 2.16% decline to $260.11 weighed on sentiment across the consumer discretionary and e-commerce space, while Nvidia's marginal 0.33% gain to $216.85 offered little comfort to bulls hoping AI-related momentum could cushion the blow.
Gold continued to assert itself as a haven of choice, with the precious metal sitting at $4,534.64 — a level that reflects persistent macro uncertainty and investor appetite for hard assets. The Dow's steeper decline relative to the Nasdaq suggests the selling pressure was concentrated in more economically sensitive, blue-chip names.
Overall, Thursday's session painted a cautious picture: breadth was poor, small caps lagged, and defensive positioning appeared to be the dominant theme heading into the end of the week.