Wall Street slipped Thursday after progress in US-Iran peace talks stalled, dragging major indexes lower even as oil kept climbing and a handful of chip and utility names posted eye-catching moves. The S&P 500 fell 0.7% after another record-setting day, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped about 0.7%, and the Nasdaq Composite declined 1.1%.
The market tone turned cautious fast. Oil rose for a fourth day after Iran and the US failed to meet for further peace talks, with Brent crude futures moving back above $103 per barrel and West Texas Intermediate topping $93. Investors had been looking to earnings reports for support as war-stoked inflation worries hurt sentiment, but Thursday’s trading showed how quickly those hopes can be overtaken by geopolitics and a punishing reaction to company results.
The software sector took the hardest hit after earnings from ServiceNow and IBM. ServiceNow sank more than 16% despite an upbeat report, while IBM slid over 8% as slowing revenue growth raised worries that Anthropic’s AI tools could disrupt its business. The broader software group dropped roughly 5%, a sharp reversal for a corner of the market that has helped carry tech shares this year.
Tesla added to the pressure on the Nasdaq, slipping almost 3% after Elon Musk signaled a massive capital expenditure push. At the other end of the market, Texas Instruments was surging the most in 25 years after a big earnings beat. The chipmaker was on track for its seventh record close of 2026 and fifth straight weekly gain, and since March 30 it has added about $83 billion in market value. Its run helped push the PHLX Semiconductor Index toward a 17-day winning streak.
Outside the US, Siemens Energy AG raised its full-year 2026 outlook on Thursday, saying it now expects comparable revenue growth of 14% to 16% this year, up from a prior range of 11% to 13%. It also lifted its forecast for comparable revenue growth in its grid sector to 25% to 27%, and its stock rose 2.5%. calculations showed Siemens Energy had become Germany’s third-largest company. The move followed a similar raise from GE Vernova on Wednesday, when it boosted its 2026 revenue forecast to $44.5 billion to $45.5 billion.
Not every surprise was on the upside. Avis Budget Group’s stock tanked roughly 40% on Thursday even after a run that had sent it up nearly 600% since March. The day’s swings left a market split between investors chasing winners and others retreating from anything tied to inflation, slowing growth or a messy outlook. For now, the message from the tape is blunt: earnings can still move stocks, but geopolitics is setting the pace.
