Early indications of a risk-on mood gave way to aggressive selling as the rotation out of software expanded to include hardware stocks on Thursday. Technology and AI-related names took their toll on all three main equity indexes, while risk-off sectors such as utilities and consumer staples surged.
"There's clearly a lot going on beneath the surface," Mizuho analyst Dan O'Regan says, "with no shortage of headlines and chatter driving tape action" amid steep losses for large-cap tech stocks, growth stocks and higher-risk assets generally.
