Stocks sell off Thursday as Nvidia-led rally fizzles, Dow drops more than 300 points: Live updates

The broad-based S&P 500 ended the day down 1.35%, or 59.7 points lower. The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 373.56 points, or 1.08%. 

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite slid, losing 257.06 points, or 1.87%. 

— Pia Singh

All of the S&P sectors were in the red on Thursday, with information technology, consumer discretionary and communication services being the biggest laggards of the market. Financials made a short-lived recovery in the afternoon, rising just above flat.

The tech sector lost 2.15% on Thursday. Chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices was the most-declining company of the group, down 7.4% as of Thursday afternoon. Solar companies Enphase Energy and SolarEdge Technologies also dragged the sector lower, losing 6.1% and 5.3%, respectively.

Bath & Body Works, down 4.4%, and cosmetics chain Ulta Beauty, down 3.6%, were the biggest laggards in consumer discretionary. Cruise companies Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings and Carnival Corp, also in the sector, followed with declines of more than 3%. 

Major tech companies, including Amazon, Apple and Netflix, also weighed on the broader index. Netflix was the biggest loser of communication services, dropping 4.8%. 

The broader index shaved off 1.2% on Thursday. Its biggest loser was Dollar Tree, which plunged 12.6%, while Clorox Company and Autodesk were its winners.

— Pia Singh

Nvidia's unprecedented rise to the top is just beginning, according to Rosenblatt. 

The firm raised its price target to $1,100 from $800 — a new high among Wall Street Street analysts — after the chipmaker managed to beat second-quarter estimates and issue optimistic guidance. Rosenblatt had already hiked its price target heading into this week.

The new price target implies more than 133% upside from Wednesday's close. Rosenblatt also reiterated its buy rating on shares. 

CNBC Pro subscribers can read the full story here.

— Hakyung Kim

Bank of America analyst Jason Haas upgraded Williams-Sonoma to neutral from underperform, saying in a note to clients that the homegoods company is doing the smart thing by focusing on margins over total sales.

"Although the home furnishings industry has gotten more promotional, WSM has stuck with its commitment to not run sitewide promotions. While this has likely hurt revenue in the short run, we believe it is ultimately the right decision to preserve the company's long-term pricing power," the note said.

Haas added that potential rate cuts from the Federal Reserve in 2024 could boost the housing market and, by extension, Williams-Sonoma.

The company reported its second-quarter results on Wednesday, showing $3.12 in earnings per share on $1.86 billion of revenue. Analysts surveyed by Refinitiv were expecting $2.71 in earnings per share on $1.96 billion of revenue.

— Jesse Pound

A weak future growth outlook has prompted Bank of America to move onto the sidelines with Peloton.

"While we still see real value in the sub base ... we have less confidence in subscriber growth drivers from here," analyst Justin Post said in a note to clients Wednesday.

The stock added 2% Thursday afternoon, marking a slight recovery after falling 43.2% so far this month. CNBC Pro subscribers can read more about the downgrade here.

— Alex Harring

• "With last night's Nvidia  report, the knee-jerk reaction was clearly quite strong particularly for the Nasdaq. The reaction to that reaction this morning, however, was the opposite and that is what ultimately matters." — Jonathan Krinsky, managing director and chief market technician at BTIG

• "The aggressive post-NVDA knee-jerk spike in tech has faded hard while the equal-weight S&P trades well and Treasuries reverse a small part of their gains from Wed. Why can't tech catch a bid? To start, there was some front-running in the space already into NVDA…Meanwhile, it's increasingly clear that the wave of GPU buying isn't materially benefiting anyone other than NVDA for the time being." — Adam Crisafulli, founder of Vital Knowledge

• "Growth is back and NVDA's is sparking a new competition for growth, which will benefit the broader market…Any company with the ability to get its hands on chips and compete with NVDA like Broadcom, Advanced Micro Devices, and Microchip Technology could leap in value. From a valuation perspective, these stocks look attractive, especially now that NVDA had a value reset to the downside." — Ben Emons, principal and senior portfolio strategist at NewEdge Wealth

— Pia Singh

Despite another show-stopping print after the bell Wednesday, and positive feedback from clients, Nvidia's garnered limited interest from the institutional investing community, according to Goldman's trading desk.

"From our point of view, the lack of institutional adding / chasing this time around is likely reflective of significantly fuller positioning across investor types," the firm said, noting that it saw more 10 buyers at its desk on a T+1 basis around this time last quarter.

The trading team also views this shift as a potential sign of risk-reward considerations, although it could also potentially signal that the AI theme is entering a "tougher stretch."

— Samantha Subin

Nike shares could continue or snap a record-setting streak depending on where they close Thursday's session.

The athletic retailer closed its 10th straight session down on Wednesday. That's the longest losing streak in Nike's history.

Shares have traded both above and below the flatline in Thursday's session. The stock was down about 0.6%.

— Alex Harring

Piper Sandler said Amazon could be nearing a "margin renaissance."

"We see evidence of this emerging in Gross Margins & 3Q23 incremental Op Income guide was by far the strongest in company history," analyst Thomas Champion said, noting the company may be "on the cusp of a margin renaissance."

"We think now is the time to buy AMZN with margins inflecting & AWS growth troughing," Champion added, using the acronym for the company's cloud business called Amazon Web Services.

CNBC Pro subscribers can click here to read more.

— Alex Harring

Big declines in shares of Burlington Stores and Petco on Thursday after the retailers' earnings reports, and it's easy to see why. There's an expectation that consumers are pulling back their spending.

Burlington shares are down more than 9% even though it posted a strong 4% rise in same-store sales, which was at the high-end of its forecast. The trouble is Burlington also tempered its outlook.

CEO Michael O'Sullivan remarked, "it is clear that the lower-income shopper, our core customer, is still under significant economic pressure. Based on the underlying year-to-date comp trend, we are narrowing our full-year comparable-store sales guidance to a range of 3% to 4% versus 2022."

The reaction was even worse at Petco, where shares fell more than 21% and hit a 52-week low intraday.

The pet products retailer turned in same-store sales growth slightly above estimates as consumers bought food and treats and spent money at its vet clinics. However, there are pressures on more discretionary items, which weighed heavily on its guidance.

Petco cut its full-year forecast to a range of 24 cents to 30 cents per share, after adjustments. Revenue will be between $6.15 billion and $6.28 billion, it said. On average, analysts were expecting it to earn 42 cents per share on revenue of $6.28 billion, according to FactSet.

—Christina Cheddar Berk, Robert Hum

A strengthening U.S. Dollar, a strong interest rate differential and improving economic conditions would typically be positives for the U.S. economy. However, things may pan out differently under the current environment, according to Liz Young, head of investment strategy at SoFi.

"Make no mistake, solid economic data is a good sign. The trouble with this concept right now is that monetary policy has been taken to a restrictive level. ... So far, it hasn't had the full intended effect, and inflation remains a concern," Young wrote in a Thursday note.

The strategist added that the rise in Treasury yields has put pressure on borrowing. A stronger U.S. dollar also puts pressure on companies that rely upon international revenue and also makes commodities more expensive for foreign currency holders.

"That's happening at a time when we are hoping inflation will continue to fall in an orderly fashion back down to its target level," said Young. "At first blush, the recent dollar strength and broadening interest rate differential for the U.S. may appear positive, but when added to the intended effect of monetary policy tightening, the typical effects of higher borrowing costs, and the possible headwind to U.S. multinational corporations, the move looks more risky."

The Dollar Index is up 0.4% as of Thursday afternoon, reaching 103.755.

— Hakyung Kim

Check out some of the companies making headlines in midday trading.

Nvidia - The chipmaker's stock climbed more than 1% to a record high after the company reported a beat on the top and bottom lines. The strong performance was driven by its data center business, which includes the A100 and H100 AI chips needed to build and run AI application. Nvidia also offered strong guidance amid a surge in demand for chips, suggesting sales in the current quarter will grow 170% from the year-earlier period.

AMD, Marvell Technology — Both semiconductor stocks were lower as Nvidia's earnings momentum fizzled. Shares of AMD slipped nearly 5%, while Marvell pulled back 4%.

Boeing — Shares of the aerospace company shed nearly 3% after Boeing said deliveries of the 737 Max will be delayed after it discovered new manufacturing flaws. Fastener holes on the aft pressure bulkhead on some of the plans were improperly drilled, the company said. Spirit Aerosystems, which means the fuselages, dropped 16.5%.

Read the full list here.

— Brian Evans

Philadelphia Federal Reserve President Patrick Harker said Thursday he doesn't see the need for further interest rate hikes and could see cuts happening in 2024 depending on data.

Speaking at the central bank's annual retreat in Jackson Hole, Wyo., Harker told CNBC the Fed "has to deal with inflation, and we are. We have a restrictive stance in my view, and we should keep it there for a while."

He added that he has heard from multiple business leaders in his district that they would like to see the Fed stand pat for a while and let the string of 11 rate increases work their way through the economy.

"What I heard loud and clear through my summer travels is, 'Please you've gone up very rapidly, we need to absorb that,'" Harker told CNBC's Steve Liesman during a "Squawk on the Street" interview.

—Jeff Cox

After another blowout quarterly print and guidance, Nvidia shares are adding to their show-stopping year and on pace for their third best yearly performance on record.

Shares were last up about 1%, giving up some earlier gains. Even so, the stock's up more than 226% in 2023. If Nvidia finishes at these levels, the semiconductor company would cap off its best year on record since 2001, when shares surged more than 308%.

Nvidia snagged its second best year in 1999, when the chipmaker went public and rallied more than 291%.

— Samantha Subin, Gina Francolla

Analysts cheered another blowout quarter from chip maker Nvidia.

Many across Wall Street applauded the artificial intelligence stock's strong quarterly report. The report pushed some to raise ratings and price targets for the stock, which has already been the top performer this year.

"We have long viewed NVDA as the primary beneficiary of the increasing investments being made on large language models/generative AI training clusters," said Stifel analyst Ruben Roy, who upgraded his rating to buy from hold following the report. However, "we underestimated the opportunity related to the potential shift of $1 trillion of installed data center infrastructure from general purpose compute to accelerated compute architectures."

CNBC Pro subscribers can read more Wall Street reactions here.

— Alex Harring

Initial jobless claims last week fell more than expected, the Labor Department reported Thursday.

First-time filings for unemployment benefits totaled 230,000 for the period ended Aug. 19, a decrease of 10,000 from the previous week and less than the Dow Jones estimate for 240,000.

Continuing claims, data for which runs a week behind, totaled 1.702 million, a slight decrease but a bit higher than the FactSet estimate for 1.69 million.

—Jeff Cox

T-Mobile US will reduce the size of its workforce by just under 7%, according to an 8-K report filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday. The telecommunications giant estimated that it will incur a pre-tax charge of about $450 million in the third quarter due to the reduction, but reiterated its full-year guidance.

The stock shed 1% shortly after market open.

— Pia Singh

The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite began Thursday's trading session in the green, advancing 0.3% and 0.7%, respectively. The Dow Jones Industrial Average flatlined at the open. 

— Pia Singh

Demand for big-ticket items such as appliances, computers and transportation equipment fell more than expected in July, the Commerce Department reported Thursday.

Durable good orders slid 5.2% for the month, worse than the 4.1% estimate from Dow Jones, according to a preliminary reading.

On the bright side, most of the decline was due to a slump in transportation. Excluding the category, orders actually increased 0.5%.

—Jeff Cox

Wall Street is keeping an eye on these stocks making the biggest moves in the premarket:

• Nvidia — The chipmaker popped 7% after reporting another blowout quarter that topped Wall Street's estimates and offered optimistic guidance.
• Boeing — Shares lost about 2% before the bell after revealing a new manufacturing defect involving supplier Spirit AeroSystems that will delay 737 Max deliveries.
• Splunk — The stock gained 13.3% after Splunk reported an earnings beat.

Read the full list of stocks moving before the bell here.

— Samantha Subin

In a surprise move, Turkey's central bank on Thursday hiked interest rates by more than expected to 25% in an attempt to dampen inflation through monetary policy. Here's what happened next: 

• The Turkish lira gained 2.9% against the U.S. dollar.
• The benchmark Borsa Istanbul 100 Index added 0.8%, and the iShares MSCI Turkey ETF gained just above 4%. The Turkey ISE National 100 edged up 0.9%.

The BIST 100 Index tracks the performance of 100 companies listed on The Istanbul Stock Exchange, chosen from Turkey's national market, real estate investment trusts, and venture capital investment trusts. iShares MSCI is a broad-based index composed of Turkish equities. 

— Pia Singh

Kenvue, the Johnson & Johnson spin-off behind brands such as Tylenol, may be worth buying while cheap, Goldman Sachs said.

"We see compelling relative valuation with an approaching catalyst for a re-rating," analyst Jason English English said in a note to clients upgrading the stock to buy from neutral on Wednesday.

CNBC Pro subscribers can read the full story here.

— Alex Harring

Semiconductor stocks were broadly on track to open higher, as Nvidia's strong second-quarter results boosted the sector. The iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX) climbed 2%.

Nvidia shares popped around 8% to lead the gains. Marvell Technology, Taiwan Semiconductor and Micron were all up 3% in the premarket. AMD advanced 2%.

— Fred Imbert

The pan-European Stoxx 600 index was up 0.9% in early trade, with tech stocks climbing 1.9% to lead gains as all sectors and major bourses opened in positive territory.

India is poised to ban sugar exports from October as a result of lower cane yields getting from a lack of rainfall, Reuters reported citing three government sources.

The halt in shipments would mark the first in seven years.

"Food inflation is a concern. The recent increase in sugar prices eliminates any possibility of exports," a government source reportedly said.

The potential ban comes after India's export ban on non-basmati white rice, as well as a 40% export tax on domestic onions.

— Reuters, Lee Ying Shan

South Korea's central bank held its benchmark policy rate at 3.5% — a rate that has been unchanged since the start of the year.

This is in line with expectations by economists surveyed in a Reuters poll — all 43 economists polled said they did not expect a change to the base rate.

The South Korean won strengthened slightly against the greenback following the announcement, trading 0.1% lower at 1,325.11.

— Lim Hui Jie

South Korea's producer price index grew 0.2% year on year in July, marking the 13th straight month of slowing growth.

This was lower than the revised figure of 0.3% in June and also the lowest rate of growth since December 2020.

The PPI tracks variations in the prices of goods shipped by industrial producers within the South Korean domestic market, and is a measure of inflation from the perspective of producers.

— Lim Hui Jie

Boeing shares fell about 3% in extended trading on Wednesday after the company said a manufacturing flaw would slow deliveries of its best-selling 737 Max.

Although the issue won't impact safety, the company said it will need to conduct inspections to see how many airplanes are affected.

Boeing said it discovered fastener holes on the aft pressure bulkhead that "did not conform to our specifications."

Boeing shares have gained about 20% since the start of the year. The stock closed Wednesday about 6% below a 52-week high it hit at the beginning of the month.

—Christina Cheddar Berk

The percentage of financial newsletter editors and advisors who see short-term weakness ahead in stocks surged to 37.1% in the latest weekly Investors Intelligence survey, up from 32.9% last week. The reading is the highest since the fall of 2022, after which the S&P 500 went on to fall to 3600 from 4280, the survey said.

"This group is raising cash after recently calling for a trading top," II said. "The recent shifts want to lock in gains before they are gone." Just last month, the number of advisors foresseing a correction was the lowest since early January, "pointing to elevated risk and the need for defensive measures. This category looks for short term market weakness, and if declines continue their number could increase further. As cash is raised while markets fall, there is new fuel for the next rally," said II.

The number of bulls continued to shrink, falling to 44.3% from 47.1% last week and a July high of 57.1%, which nearly matched the Nov. 2021 peak of 57.2%. Bears dropped to 18.6% from 20.0% a week ago. The spread between the numbers of bulls and bears narrowed to 25.7 points from 27.1 last week and a two-year high of 38.5 reached in July.

— Scott Schnipper

Semiconductor stocks traded higher on Wednesday after Nvidia beat Wall Street expectations for second-quarter earnings.

Shares of AMD added 2.6% in extended trading, while peer Marvell Technology climbed nearly 4%. Taiwan Semiconductor was trading 2.3% higher. The broader VanEck Semiconductor ETF (SMH) added 2.4%.

Technology stocks also ticked up, with Microsoft and Amazon adding 1.4% and 1%, respectively.

— Brian Evans

Stock futures were higher on Wednesday after another better-than-expected earnings report from chipmaker Nvidia roused Wall Street.

Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 33 points, or 0.1%. S&P 500 futures climbed 0.5% while Nasdaq 100 futures gained 1%.

— Brian Evans