Concerns on AI disruptions routs US markets; NASDAQ falls 2%, Dow jones ends below 50,000

The US markets witnessed a heavy selloff across the board on Friday after investor scepticism grew over AI stocks. The Dow Jones fell 1.3% to close below 50,000, and the S&P500 plunged 1.5%. While the NASDAQ closed 2% lower, falling the most. Investors are now looking forward to the release of the headline CPI print later today. The investor optimism over stronger-than-expected jobs data was short-lived, as concerns over record AI capex and its returns worried the investors.

Concerns were raised about the impact of AI on the margins of financial, transportation, and logistics companies, and even on commercial real estate companies, generating massive selling pressure on the stocks.

Shares of Cisco fell 14% after its quarterly earnings failed to boost investor optimism around the stock. In the quarterly earnings report, the company’s revenue rose to $3.12 billion from $2.43 billin over the same period a year ago. However, the adjusted gross margins missed expectations as higher prices for memory chips, driven by AI infrastructure demand, impacted margins.

Shares of Apple fell 5% after a Bloomberg report said that the highly anticipated new upgrade of Siri assistant is expected to be delayed due to testing issues. The release of new upgrades is now expected to start from May, much ahead of the earlier schedule in March 2026.

On the gainer side, the shares of defensive stocks like McDonald's rose 2.7% after the quarterly earnings showed a 10% YoY rise in revenue at $7 billion. Apart from that, the investors preferred to add defensive names like Walmart +3.8%, Boeing +1.3%.

On the commodities front, the gold and silver prices again witnessed a sharp fall on Thursday after media reports claimed that Russia is planning a proposal to return to the US dollar. The economic partnership with President Trump would include US and Russia working together on fossil fuels, joint investments in natural gas, offshore oil and critical raw materials partnerships.

Reacting to the news, the gold prices plunged 3.19% on Thursday to close at $4,922 per ounce. While silver prices plunged 10% to end near $75 per oz.