Dow drops 100 points; S&P 500 closes lower as Alphabet and chip shares sell off: Live updates

The three major averages closed in negative territory on Thursday.

The S&P 500 declined 0.51% to end at 7,533.77, while the Nasdaq Composite dropped 1.47% to finish at 25,881.95. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 105.67 points, or 0.2%, to 52,552.97.

— Sean Conlon

Shares of Alphabet dropped on the heels of a news report that the company is delaying the release of its flagship artificial intelligence model, known as Gemini 3.5 Pro.

The stock was last off more than 4%. Declines in Alphabet weighed on the major averages, pulling them to their session lows on Thursday afternoon.

Gemini 3.5 Pro is months behind schedule as Alphabet works to improve its performance, Bloomberg News reported, citing sources familiar with the matter.

The company announced its Gemini 3.5 Pro AI model in May as part of its Google I/O developer conference.

Read more from CNBC's Jonathan Vanian here.

— Darla Mercado

Short sellers are rapidly increasing their bets against SpaceX, driving bearish positioning to nearly one-third of the company's public float as the struggling stock hovers below its IPO offering price.

About 185 million SpaceX shares are now sold short, representing roughly 29% of the company's publicly tradable float and about $25 billion in bearish wagers, according to S3 Partners. The position has ballooned from an estimated 40 million shares, or roughly 5% to 7% of the float, just three weeks ago.

"We are seeing continuous demand from short sellers building speculative positions since the IPO," Matthew Unterman, head of research at S3, told CNBC.

Read the full story here.

— Yun Li

Dallas Federal Reserve President Lorie Logan, asserting that this week's good inflation news wasn't good enough, called Thursday for "modestly" higher interest rates to win a battle the central bank has been losing for the past five years.

A voting member this year on the rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee, Logan insisted that inflation is still a major problem for U.S. households that demands action from policymakers. While other Fed officials have expressed a preference for higher rates if inflation metrics don't improve, Logan's is the most specific call for a hike.

"I currently believe modestly higher interest rates would better balance the outlook and risks for the FOMC's dual mandate goals," Logan said in prepared remarks for a speech in Houston. "Every month of above-target inflation has compounded the strain on Americans' budgets." Read more.

— Jeff Cox

Check out the companies making the biggest moves in midday trading:

• Abbott Laboratories – The maker of Ensure nutrition shakes jumped almost 11%. Abbott raised its full-year guidance for adjusted earnings, forecasting a range of $5.45 to $5.60 per share, versus its earlier estimate of $5.38 to $5.58 a share. The FactSet consensus called for $5.47 per share.
• ManpowerGroup – The employment agency saw shares surge 33%. Manpower called for third-quarter revenue to rise 2% to 6%, versus the FactSet consensus estimate of 1.7%. Adjusted earnings in the second quarter came in at 99 cents per share on revenue of $4.9 billion, topping Wall Street's call for 95 cents per share and $4.72 billion.
• Cintas — The uniform rental and laundering service stock jumped 6.5% after a Bank of America upgrade to buy from neutral. The rating change comes after Cintas on Wednesday posted better-than-expected earnings for the fiscal fourth quarter. "We are incrementally more constructive on the setup for earnings over the next several quarters as Cintas benefits from an improved backdrop in key labor verticals, continues to drive impressive growth in adjacent product categories and is generating outsized margin gains from a high focus on improving supply chain and distribution efficiencies," BofA said.

Read the full list here.

— Michelle Fox

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang's recent prediction that computing costs would rise from around $50 billion toward $100 billion per gigawatt present a problem for the company's business model, according to Seaport.

The cost is too expensive, the equity research firm says, and it means that Nvidia will have to increase the support it provides to its own customers – specifically smaller data centers called neoclouds – so that they can afford Nvidia's products.

"We think this speaks to a deep contradiction in Nvidia's business model," Jay Goldberg, senior analyst at Seaport, wrote in a Wednesday note to clients.

The cost increase projected by Huang has no clear driver and "implies Nvidia is raising prices," Goldberg added.

— Tobias Burns

Truist downgraded Lululemon to sell from hold and cut its price target to $94 from $115, implying roughly 20% downside.

Civello said weakening card spending data, declining brand momentum across social media channels such as TikTok/Google Trends, recent PR missteps, growing competition and larger sales base in China point towards the growing challenges that may be more structural than cyclical.

"Overall we believe there are numerous issues at hand & the current leadership transition period likely stalls turnaround efforts (CEO Heidi O'Neill is starting in Sep and we question if her tenure at NKE makes her the right candidate)," Truist's analyst Joseph Civello wrote. 

Truist also lowered its fiscal 2026 earnings estimate to $10.50 from $11.25 and its fiscal 2027 estimate to $10.25 from $11.75. Civello also warned that incoming leadership may need to pursue a costly shrink-to-grow strategy.

"As a result, we believe there is very limited visibility into where/when earnings may bottom and think that a valuation-based," he added.

— Deena Zaidi

A peek inside the S&P 500 showed much of the broader index was higher, with eight out of 11 sectors in positive territory even as the overall index was down.

The index was last lower by 0.2%.

— Sarah Min

An exchange traded fund tied to the equal weighted S&P 500 was higher Thursday. The Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight ETF (RSP) was last up by 0.6%.

— Sarah Min

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite opened lower Thursday. Here are the numbers:

• S&P 500 falls 0.2%
• Nasdaq falls 0.4%
• Dow Jones Industrial Average rises 0.2%

— Sarah Min

Here are some of the names making moves before the opening bell:

• UnitedHealth — Shares rose more than 7% after the health insurance giant posted better-than-expected results for the second quarter. UnitedHealth also hiked its full-year earnings outlook.
• Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing — The chipmaker shed 4%. While TSMC's second-quarter earnings beat estimates, it raised its full-year capital expenditures to between $60 billion and $64 billion versus its prior guidance of high end of the range $52 billion to $56 billion. The company also announced it will invest an additional $100 billion in Arizona.
• GE Aerospace — Shares dropped 4% despite the company's second-quarter earnings and revenue beat. GE Aerospace reported adjusted earnings of $2.02 per share on revenue of $12.63 billion. Analysts polled by LSEG had expected EPS of $1.86 on revenue of $11.86 billion. The company also raised its full-year guidance.

Read the full list here.

— Michelle Fox

South Korea regulators are reversing course after approving single-stock leveraged ETFs tied to Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix in May, following criticism that the products have contributed to market volatility.

The reforms include prohibiting new listings of similar products and raising minimum cash deposit requirements.

The benchmark Kospi index plunged 6.4% on Thursday, slipping into a bear market after the Bank of Korea raised interest rates for the first time since January 2023.

The Kospi has posted gains or losses of more than 5% in 27 trading sessions so far this year.

— Justin Zacks

Retail sales rose in line with expectations while jobless claims fell and factory activity in the Philadelphia area hit a nearly five years:

• The advance estimate for sales of retail and food services increased 0.2%, according to Commerce Department numbers that are adjusted for seasonality but not inflation. That was in line with estimates, though sales fell 0.2% ex-autos against a forecast for a 0.2% gain. Gasoline station sales tumbled 5.3% as prices fell.
• Initial unemployment claims fell to a seasonally adjusted 208,000 for the week ending July 11, down 8,000 from the prior period and below the Dow Jones consensus for 218,000. Continuing claims, which run a week behind, fell 16,000 to just over 1.8 million.
• The Philadelphia Federal Reserve's manufacturing index, which measures the percentage of companies reporting growth against contraction, soared to 41.4 for July. That was up some 31 points from the prior reading, much higher than the 9.8 forecast and the peak since November 2021.
• The New York Fed's services gauge posted a reading of 8.7, the first positive reading in nearly two years and its highest since 2022.

—Jeff Cox

Nvidia unveiled a new AI model for robots and vision AI agents on Wednesday, deepening its push into the physical AI market in Japan.

The company's new model, Cosmos 3 Edge, is a so-called world model, designed to help systems perceive and navigate physical environments in real time. Cosmos 3 edge is a World models are systems that can learn from a wider range of inputs compared to large language models (LLMs).

— Jenny Lee

Eli Lilly will acquire psychedelic drugmaker AtaiBeckley for $2.8 billion up front, the company said Thursday — confirming earlier reports — as momentum grows for using versions of the drugs as mental health treatments. 

The transaction gives Lilly access to AtaiBeckley's experimental DMT-based drug that's being studied in Phase 3 clinical trials for treatment resistant depression. AtaiBeckley is developing several other psychedelics for mental health conditions, including one related to MDMA, also known as ecstasy. 

Read more here.

— Angelica Peebles

UnitedHealth shares rose more than 6% in early trading after the health insurance giant posted better-than-expected results for the second quarter.

The company earned an adjusted $6.38 per share on revenue of $112.03 billion. Analysts polled by LSEG expected a profit of $4.90 per share on revenue of $110.85 billion.

UnitedHealth also hiked its full-year earnings outlook.

Read more here.

— Fred Imbert

Psychedelic drugmaker AtaiBeckley soared 62% in premarket trading on Thursday following reports that Eli Lilly is nearing a deal to acquire the firm.

The pharmaceutical giant may announce that it's buying AtaiBeckley as soon as this week, with a deal being negotiated at a premium, people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg News.

Eli Lilly and AtaiBeckley haven't responded to CNBC's request for comment on the report.

AtaiBeckley is a clinical-stage biotech firm developing psychedelic-inspired medicine to treat severe mental illnesses, particularly depression, with treatments that act faster than existing options. Its flagship drug, BPL-003, is a fast-acting intranasal spray to treat treatment-resistant depression.

The acquisition would bolster Eli Lilly's neuroscience business — one of the industry's most difficult areas to develop drugs for — which is a key area of growth alongside obesity and diabetes.

— Sawdah Bhaimiya

U.S. Treasury yields edged higher on Thursday as Wall Street awaits key employment data due later in the session. 

The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note — the key benchmark for U.S. government borrowing — was 3 basis points higher at 4.5754%.

The 2-year Treasury note yield, which more closely tracks short-term Federal Reserve interest rate policy, rose over 2 basis points to 4.1577%. The longer-dated 30-year Treasury bond yield also added 2 basis points to 5.1104%.

— Joseph Wilkins

Hong Kong's Hang Seng index was up 1.29% in its last hour of trade on Thursday, while mainland China's CSI 300 closed 1.85% lower at 4,698.43.

The gains in Hang Seng were led by real estate and consumer cyclicals sectors, up 2.17% and 2.07%, respectively. Shares of Alibaba and Baidu rose 3.26% and 2.51% in Hong Kong, respectively, on the back of their partnership with Apple for deploying AI tools.

—Justina Lee

ABB will buy Rotork, a U.K. industrial flow control equipment maker, for £4.1 billion ($5.6 billion), in the Swiss engineering group's biggest-ever acquisition deal.

Shares in London-listed Rotork soared 66.7% in morning trade.

Zurich-headquartered ABB was last seen 1.7% lower. The electrification and automation giant beat estimates in its second-quarter earnings report, with EBITDA rising 20% to $1.93 billion.

—Hugh Leask

European stocks dipped into negative territory shortly after the opening bell on Thursday, with the pan-European Stoxx 600 marginally lower by 8:06 a.m. in London (3:06 a.m. ET).

Among major bourses, France's CAC 40 led losses on a pullback of 0.4%.

Tech stocks bucked the trend, with the Stoxx 600 Technology index adding 0.5% in early trading.

— Chloe Taylor

Shares in Delivery Hero fell about 1% after Uber launched a takeover bid for the German food delivery company.

The deal will see Uber acquire Frankfurt-listed Delivery Hero in a deal worth 41.50 euros ($47.59) per share, with Dutch technology investor Prosus offloading its near-17% stake in Delivery Hero to Uber as part of the deal.

The group will also sell its businesses in 14 markets to SSW Partners in a deal worth $1.4 billion dollars, where it would overlap with Uber's operations on completion.

The improved offer comes after one of Delivery Hero's major shareholders earlier rejected a 38 euro-per-share offer from Uber in May.

— Hugh Leask

The U.K. economy grew 0.1% in the month to May, in line with a consensus estimate compiled by Reuters.

It followed a 0.1% contraction in April and growth of 0.3% in March.

May's slight expansion in gross domestic product was led by 0.3% growth in services, Britain's Office for National Statistics said on Thursday. That was offset by falls of 0.5% in production and 0.8% in construction.

— Chloe Taylor

European markets were expected to open Thursday's session marginally positive as investors continue to monitor developments in the Middle East and the impact on risk assets.

Stoxx 50 futures were set to start the day 0.37% higher, with French CAC 40 futures up  0.11% and Germany's DAX seen 0.07% higher. The Italian FTSE MIB was set to open 0.06% higher.

However, futures for the U.K.'s FTSE 100 were down 0.31%, with the presence of several energy majors dragging the index lower as oil prices eased overnight.

Brent crude, the global oil price benchmark, was last seen 0.54% lower at $84.49 per barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures were down 0.36% at $79.30.

— Hugh Leask

Traditional safe-haven assets fell Thursday even as renewed hostilities between the U.S. and Iran over the weekend raised geopolitical concerns.

The 10-year U.S. Treasury yield rose 1 basis point to 4.557%, while spot gold fell 0.7% to $4,033.50 an ounce. Silver dropped 1.2% to $57.05 per ounce.

—Justina Lee

Shares of Chinese tech giants Alibaba and Baidu rose Thursday on their partnership with Apple for deploying their AI tools.

Hong-Kong listed shares of Alibaba rose 5% after the company confirmed that its Qwen AI model would be integrated into Apple services in China.

U.S.-listed shares of Alibaba had closed slightly higher overnight after an Alibaba spokesperson told CNBC that "Qwen will be integrated into Apple Intelligence experiences within iOS, iPadOS, macOS, and vision OS for users in China."

Baidu's Hong Kong-listed shares gained 1.4% as the company confirmed that it was working with Apple on Apple Intelligence features for iPhones in China.

—Justina Lee

Oil rose Thursday as escalating Iran-U.S. tensions raised worries about a prolonged Middle East conflict, though gains were capped by signals that a diplomatic resolution was not off the table.

Futures for international benchmark Brent crude for September delivery gained 0.19% at $85.11 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures for June advanced 0.40% at $79.92 per barrel.

President Donald Trump said Wednesday that Iran wants to meet and make a deal, though Iran has maintained its posture of being combat ready. "They're nasty people, but they want to make a deal," Trump said.

The U.S. military carried out fresh strikes on Iran. "The strikes are targeting Iranian military capabilities used to threaten vessels freely transiting through the Strait of Hormuz," U.S. Central Command said.

"Brent and WTI have made upward corrections in line with escalating attacks but the quantum of move is likely now tempered as the market waits to see any change in stance from the U.S. and Iran," said June Goh, senior oil analyst at Sparta Commodities.

—Justina Lee

Asian semiconductor stocks tumbled Thursday, as a sell-off in U.S. chipmakers spilled into the region, with SK Hynix continuing to see massive volatility since its U.S. listing last week.

Shares of SK Hynix tumbled over 11% in Seoul, reversing the previous session's 8% rally. The stock had logged its steepest one-day decline on Monday, as investors locked in profits amid growing worries over AI spending.

Domestic rival Samsung Electronics dropped more than 7%. Seoul Semiconductor fell more than 5%, LG Innotek lost about 1%, and Samsung SDI was down over 2%.

The weakness spread across the region. In Japan, AI-linked equipment makers Advantest fell more than 6%, SoftBank Group slid nearly 7%, Tokyo Electron lost over 5%, while Renesas Electronics declined 4%.

The losses track a sell-off in U.S. semiconductor shares overnight. Micron Technology sank 8%, Intel lost more than 4%, while Lam Research and Advanced Micro Devices each fell about 3%.

—Lee Ying Shan

South Korea's central bank hiked benchmark policy rates on Thursday, raising them for the first time since January 2023 as inflation in the country creeps up.

The Bank of Korea's 25 basis point hike that increased rates to 2.75% was in line with median estimates from economists polled by Reuters.

The hike comes amid rising consumer prices, with headline inflation in June rising to its highest since 2023 at 3.2%.

The BOK last month said that the payment of large performance bonuses recently seen at some major companies in the IT sector could spread into broader wage increases, translating to upward pressure on inflation.

—Lim Hui Jie

Shares of South Korean shipbuilders rose Thursday, after President Donald Trump reportedly said that his administration will "probably" look at South Korean firms for the U.S. naval buildout.

Shares of South Korean shipbuilders like HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering rose over 3%. Hanwha Ocean was up 2.2% and Hyundai Heavy added 0.9%.

In March, South Korea passed a special bill to establish a state-run investment corporation to manage Seoul's planned $350 billion investment into the U.S. The investment comprises $150 billion toward shipbuilding, as well as a $200 billion for projects in strategic sectors that will be capped at $20 billion a year.

—Justina Lee

Shares of BHP Group fell 2.8%, as reportedly hundreds of its workers look set to walk off the job at Port Hedland.

Workers and their elected representatives have failed to reach an agreement with the company over terms for a 4-year labor deal. The strike would be the most significant industrial action in three decades for the Western Australian mining industry, according to local media reports.

That comes after the world's largest company mining company reported its operational review for its fiscal year ended June.

"Cost control was particularly strong, with every asset expected to be within unit cost guidance despite headwinds from inflation, higher diesel prices and global supply chain disruptions," it said. BHP also announced a $900 million investment into the Western Australia Iron Ore industry.

Based in Australia, BHP is by market capitalization that produces iron ore, copper and metallurgical coal, according to its website.

—Justina Lee

Asia-Pacific markets opened lower Thursday. South Korea's Kospi led losses in the region, declining more than 5%, while the small-cap Kosdaq fell 1.97%.

Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 fell 2.4%, while the Topix declined 0.9%.

Australia's benchmark S&P/ASX 200 was flat at the open.

— Lee Ying Shan

Asia-Pacific markets were set for a mixed open Thursday as investors weighed the latest developments in the conflict between the U.S. and Iran.

U.S. President Donald Trump said Wednesday that Iran had expressed a willingness to negotiate, even as the American military carried out more strikes against Iranian targets.

Tehran has also continued to project a readiness for further conflict, with defense analysts telling CNBC there was little indication that the conflict between the two countries was nearing a diplomatic resolution.

Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 was set to open lower, with the futures contract in Chicago at 67,890 against the index's last close of 68,751.51.

Futures for Hong Kong's Hang Seng index last traded at 24,829, higher than the index's Wednesday close of 24,681.1.

Futures for Australia's benchmark S&P/ASX 200 were last at 8,821 compared to its close of 8,841.1.

— Lee Ying Shan

These are the stocks making the biggest moves in extended trading:

• United Airlines — Shares fell more than 2% despite the airline topping earnings estimates. The company issued softer-than-expected guidance of $2.50 to $3.50 per share for the third quarter, versus FactSet estimates of $3.53 per share. United also said it expects $6 billion in added fuel costs.
• J.B. Hunt Transport Services — The stock jumped nearly 7% after the company reported earnings per share of $1.73, beating analyst estimates by 18 cents per share, according to LSEG. Revenue of $3.5 billion was in line with estimates of $3.25 billion. Management said demand for the intermodal service increased throughout the quarter.

— Tanaya Macheel

U.S. equity futures opened little changed on Wednesday night. Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average ticked lower by 11 points, or 0.02%. S&P 500 futures added 0.01% and Nasdaq 100 futures were up 0.06%.

— Tanaya Macheel