Worries about the threat posed by new AI tools to software companies sparked a slump in technology shares Tuesday.
The Nasdaq composite finished the day down 1.4%, while the S&P 500 fell 0.8% after closing Monday just below a fresh record. The Dow industrials dropped about 0.3%.
The declines, which were steepest at about 2 p.m. ET, came after Anthropic’s launch of new AI productivity tools. Those dealt a blow to data service companies including Thomson Reuters, FactSet, S&P Global and Intuit. Experian, Equifax and London Stock Exchange Group also slid, as did legal publishers Wolters Kluwer and RELX.
The slump extended to private-fund managers that bet heavily on the software industry’s future. Shares of Ares Management and Blue Owl Capital dropped about 10%.
Earnings also drove big stock moves. Palantir jumped nearly 7% after strong results late Monday, while PayPal slid 20% after warning that earnings would fall this year. The chip maker AMD was among companies due to report results after the market close. Its shares fell 1.7%, with sharper drops for peers Nvidia and Broadcom.
The extraordinary volatility in metals markets continued. Gold futures swung back near $5,000 a troy ounce, adding 6.1% in the largest one-day surge since 2009. Contracts for silver bounced 8.2%, though prices for both remain below peaks hit before the crash late last week.
