Falling tech stocks and a plunge for bitcoin hit Wall Street

Traders work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Sharp drops hit Wall Street on Thursday as technology stocks fell and bitcoin plunged again to roughly half its record price set last fall. Several discouraging reports on the U.S. job market also knocked down yields in the bond market.

The S&P 500 fell 1.2 per cent for its sixth loss in the seven days since it set an all-time high. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 592 points, or 1.2 per cent, and the Nasdaq composite sank 1.6 per cent.

Qualcomm fell 8.5 per cent for one of the market’s bigger losses even though the chip company topped analysts’ expectations for profit and revenue in the latest quarter. Its forecast for profit in the current quarter fell short of analysts’ expectations as an industrywide shortage of memory pushes some handset makers to cut back on orders.

In the bond market, Treasury yields sank after a report said the number of U.S. workers applying for unemployment benefits jumped last week by more than economists expected. That could be a signal that the pace of layoffs is accelerating.

Some economists suggested last week’s rise could be statistical noise, and the total number remains relatively low compared with history. But a separate report said that layoffs announced by U.S.-based employers surged last month. The 108,435 was the highest number for a month since October, according to global outplacement and executive coaching firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas.

For a January, it’s the worst since 2009 during the Great Recession.

A third report from the U.S. government said that employers were advertising the lowest number of job openings in December in more than five years.

Weakness in the job market could push the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates to support the economy, even if it also risks worsening inflation. Treasury yields fell across the board in response.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury sank to 4.19 per cent from 4.29 per cent late Wednesday. That’s a notable move for the bond market.

The moves were even sharper in commodities markets.

Silver’s price dropped 9.1 per cent in its latest wild swing since its record-breaking momentum suddenly halted last week.

Gold’s price fell 1.2 per cent to settle at US$4,889.50 per ounce. It’s been careening back and forth since roughly doubling in price over 12 months. It neared US$5,600 last week and then fell below US$4,500 on Monday.

Both gold and silver had been screaming higher as investors piled into places they thought would be safer amid worries about political turmoil, a U.S. stock market that critics called expensive and huge debt loads for governments worldwide. But nothing can keep rising at such extreme rates forever, and critics had been calling for a pullback.

Bitcoin, which is pitched as “digital gold,” also sank. Like gold, bitcoin produces no profits or dividends, and its price depends on what investors will pay for it. It briefly fell more than 12 per cent below US$64,000, down from its record above US$124,000 set in October.

The tumbling prices dragged down stocks of companies enmeshed in the crypto industry. Coinbase Global, the crypto trading platform, fell 13.3 per cent. Strategy, which has made a business of buying and holding bitcoin, tumbled 17.1 per cent.

Outside of crypto, Alphabet dragged on the market and slipped 0.5 per cent, after paring an earlier loss of 8 per cent, even though the parent company of Google, YouTube and other businesses reported a stronger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. Investors focused instead on how much Alphabet is spending on artificial-intelligence technology and questioned whether it will all prove worth it.

Alphabet said its spending on equipment and other investments could double this year to roughly US$180 billion. That blew past analysts’ expectations of less than US$119 billion, according to FactSet.

Estee Lauder also topped Wall Street targets, and it raised some of its financial forecasts for the full fiscal year. But analysts said investors may have been expecting even more, as the company shepherds through its turnaround efforts and the punishing effects of tariffs. The New York cosmetic company’s shares fell 19.2 per cent.

On the winning side of Wall Street were companies that stand to benefit from big spending by Alphabet and others continuing the AI frenzy. Chip company Broadcom added 0.8 per cent.

McKesson jumped 16.5 per cent after reporting stronger profit and revenue for the latest quarter than analysts expected. The health care company also raised its forecasted range for profit this fiscal year.

All told, the S&P 500 fell 84.32 points to 6,798.40. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 592.58 to 48,908.72, and the Nasdaq composite sank 363.99 to 22,540.59.

In stock markets abroad, indexes fell across much of Europe and Asia.

London’s FTSE 100 dropped 0.9 per cent after the Bank of England held interest rates there steady. France’s CAC 40 fell 0.3 per cent, and Germany’s DAX lost 0.5 per cent after the European Central Bank likewise stood pat on interest rates.

South Korea’s Kospi tumbled 3.9 per cent for one of the world’s biggest moves and dropped from its all-time high. Samsung Electronics fell 5.8 per cent, just two days after it had surged 11.4 per cent.

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Stan Choe, The Associated Press. AP Business Writers Matt Ott and Elaine Kurtenbach contributed.