The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite closed lower on Thursday, October 15, 2026, as investors pulled back from technology shares for a second straight session and weighed a wholesale inflation report that came in well above forecasts, according to CNBC.
The broad S&P 500 index fell 0.5%, while the technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite dropped 1.3%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average moved the other way, gaining 269 points, or 0.5%, as money rotated into sectors outside tech.
The split performance reflected two pressures hitting markets at once: mounting doubt about how much artificial intelligence companies are spending, and fresh evidence that price growth is not cooling as quickly as hoped.
Why it matters
The session showed how tightly the AI trade is now tied to the wider market. Chipmakers and data-center builders have driven much of this year's gains, so when investors question their spending plans, the losses spread quickly.
At the same time, the inflation data complicates the outlook for interest rates. A hotter reading on wholesale prices, arriving one day after a stronger-than-expected consumer price report, gives the Federal Reserve less room to ease policy and raises the possibility of tighter conditions before the year ends.
AI spending doubts drag chipmakers lower
CoreWeave was among the hardest-hit names, with its shares falling 7% after a drop of more than 15% in the prior session, CNBC reported. Investors have grown uneasy that the company is taking on too much debt to fund its AI infrastructure build-out. Yields on CoreWeave's corporate bonds also climbed sharply, a sign that lenders are demanding more compensation to hold the debt.
The concerns widened beyond a single company. CNBC reported, citing sources, that Anthropic's revenue reached $16.8 billion in the third quarter. Some traders worried that the AI developer's sales are not expanding quickly enough to support the rich valuations placed on semiconductor makers.
Micron Technology and Advanced Micro Devices led the decline among chip stocks, losing 4% and 5% respectively. Sandisk dropped 6%, and U.S.-listed shares of South Korea's SK Hynix fell 5%.
The selling was even sharper in Asia, where South Korea's Kospi index plunged 7.57% to close at 5,554.22. Chip heavyweights SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics sank more than 11% and nearly 10%. The small-cap Kosdaq index lost 7.65%, ending at 760.82.
Japan's Nikkei 225 dropped 4.9% to 64,425.95, and the Topix fell 2.38% to 3,999.34. In China, the CSI 300 slipped 1.23% to 4,166.01, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng was down more than 1% in the final hour of trading.
Wholesale prices post biggest jump since 2022
The September producer price index, which tracks what businesses pay for goods and services before they reach consumers, rose 1.3% for the month and 6.3% from a year earlier, according to CNBC. Both figures were the largest monthly and annual increases since 2022.
Economists surveyed by Dow Jones had projected a monthly gain of 0.6% and an annual rise of 5.5%, meaning the actual numbers came in roughly twice as high on the monthly measure.
The report followed Wednesday's consumer price index release, which also came in above expectations on an annual basis and on core measures for both the month and the year. CNN reported that consumer inflation reached 3.7% last month, describing it as the final snapshot of prices before the midterm elections.
"Today's PPI report, after Wednesday's CPI, confirms inflation is getting worse as energy prices stay high," David Russell, global head of market strategy at TradeStation, said in comments reported by CNBC. "Election or no election, prices are rising and the Fed might be forced to act."
Traders had been watching for the PPI release since the morning, with Dow Jones-polled economists expecting a 0.6% monthly increase and a 5.5% annual figure. Core PPI, which strips out food and energy, was forecast to rise 0.3% month over month.
Some corners of the market held up
Not every sector joined the retreat. Walmart shares climbed 4%, and Merck rose more than 3%, as investors shifted toward retailers and drugmakers seen as less exposed to the AI spending cycle.
European markets opened mixed, with regional indexes and sectors splitting in direction. Euro zone industrial production fell 1.1% year over year in August, according to Eurostat, the EU's statistical office, worse than the 0.1% decline analysts in a Reuters poll had expected. Output was down 0.5% from the previous month, against forecasts of no change.
"For the third month in a row, industrial production declined in the eurozone," Bert Colijn, chief economist for the Netherlands at ING, said, according to CNBC. "While manufacturers remain upbeat about output, production data paints a less rosy picture. Industry may not be immune to higher energy prices and global uncertainty after all."
Swedish telecom equipment maker Ericsson was a bright spot in Europe. Its shares jumped about 7.5% in London morning trade after third-quarter results beat expectations, lifting it to the top of the Stoxx 600. Net sales for the quarter ended September 30 reached 59.5 billion Swedish krona, or about $5.91 billion, up 6% from a year earlier and 13% from the prior quarter. Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes and amortization came in at 10.1 billion krona, ahead of the 7.87 billion analysts had forecast.
Per Narvinger, Ericsson's president and CEO, said the results were achieved in a difficult environment and that a reorganization of the company's operating structure "will strengthen our customer focus and drive further efficiencies over time."
What to watch
Attention now turns to whether the Fed signals a firmer stance on rates in the weeks ahead, and whether AI-linked companies can reassure investors about the scale and financing of their spending. Any further weakness in chip stocks would test whether the market's gains this year can hold without their leadership.
