U.S. Stocks May Move Lower Amid Continued Tech Weakness

Following the mixed performance seen in the previous session, stocks are likely to move mostly lower in early trading on Thursday. The major index futures are currently pointing to initial weakness on Wall Street, with the S&P 500 futures down by 0.4 percent.

Continued weakness among tech stocks is likely to weigh on Wall Street amid a slump by shares of Google parent Alphabet (GOOGL).

Alphabet is tumbling by 4.3 percent in pre-market trading after the company reported better than expected fourth quarter results but forecast a sharp increase in capital spending in 2026.

Shares of Qualcomm (QCOM) are also plunging by 10.1 percent in pre-market trading after the chipmaker reported fiscal first quarter earnings that exceeded estimates but provided disappointing guidance for the current quarter.

Tech stocks have moved sharply lower in recent sessions amid concerns about the impact of AI, dragging the tech-heavy Nasdaq to its lowest levels in over a month.

In U.S. economic news, a report released by the Labor Department showed first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits rose by much more than expected in the week ended January 31st.

The Labor Department said initial jobless claims climbed to 231,000, an increase of 22,000 from the previous week’s unrevised level of 209,000. Economists had expected jobless claims to inch up to 212,000.

With the bigger than expected increase, jobless claims reached their highest level since hitting 237,000 in the week ended December 6th.

Shortly after the start of trading, the Labor Department is scheduled to release its report on job openings in the month of December. Job openings are expected to increase to 7.245 million in December from 7.146 million in November.

After weighing on the markets during Tuesday’s session, technology stocks showed another significant move to the downside during trading on Wednesday. The tech-heavy Nasdaq slumped to its lowest closing level in over a month after flirting with its record highs just a week.

The Nasdaq ended the day off its lows of the session but still tumbled 350.61 points or 1.5 percent to 22,904.58. The S&P 500 also slid 35.09 points or 0.5 percent to 6,882.72, while the narrower Dow climbed 260.31 points or 0.5 percent to 49,501.30.

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly lower during trading on Thursday. Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index slumped by 0.9 percent, while China’s Shanghai Composite Index fell by 0.6 percent.

The major European markets have also moved to the downside on the day. While the German DAX Index is down by 0.9 percent, the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index is down by 0.5 percent and the French CAC 40 Index is down by 0.3 percent.

In commodities trading, crude oil futures are tumbling $1.33 to $63.81 a barrel after surging $1.93 to $65.14 a barrel on Wednesday. Meanwhile, after rising $15.80 to $4,950.80 an ounce in the previous session, gold futures are slumping $66.40 to $4,884.40 an ounce.

On the currency front, the U.S. dollar is trading at 156.64 yen versus the 156.85 yen it fetched at the close of New York trading on Wednesday. Against the euro, the dollar is valued at $1.1805 compared to yesterday’s $1.1806.