How the market did
The Nasdaq Composite took the hardest hit today, falling close to 1.9%. The S&P 500, which tracks 500 large US companies and is one of the most watched measures of the overall market, fell about 1.1%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, which follows 30 big name American companies, barely moved, slipping less than 0.1%.
The gap between those three tells a story. The Dow is heavy on older, steadier businesses like manufacturers and banks. The Nasdaq and S&P 500 have a lot more tech and AI companies, and those were the stocks that got hit hardest today.
What moved stocks today
The main driver was an inflation report. Inflation means prices across the economy are rising. When inflation runs hotter than expected, it raises the chances that the Federal Reserve, the US central bank, will raise interest rates to cool things down.
Higher interest rates are bad news for many stocks, especially tech and AI companies. Here is why: those companies are often valued on profits they are expected to earn far in the future. When rates rise, future money is worth less in today's terms, so investors are willing to pay less for those stocks right now.
AI and tech shares led the losses today, which is exactly what you would expect given that backdrop. Some solid earnings results from Wall Street banks were not enough to lift the mood across the wider market.
Biggest movers
On the winning side, Bending Spoons jumped about 41%, NEXGEL rose close to 35%, Antelope Enterprise Holdings climbed around 34%, Liquidia Corporation gained nearly 27%, and Greenland Mines added about 17%. The headlines do not clearly explain the reasons behind most of these moves, so it is too early to say what drove them.