Stocks turned negative, after initially surging in morning trading on Nvidia’s earnings report late Wednesday. Despite Nvidia results and guidance that topped Wall Street expectations, many investors remain jittery about big tech’s artificial-intelligence spending commitments. A robust September jobs report, released several weeks late due to the government shutdown, may have fueled concerns that the Federal Reserve won’t cut interest rates in December. The Labor Department said payrolls showed their strongest gain since April. Nvidia ended the day down 3%, after initially climbing 5%. The Nasdaq finished 2.2% lower; it was up 2.6% before swinging downward. The S&P 500 and Dow industrials followed similar paths, dropping 1.6% and 0.8%, respectively.
Walmart reported strong quarterly sales and raised its financial outlook for the full year. The country’s largest retailer by revenue said U.S. comparable sales rose 4.5% in the three months ended Oct. 31. Walmart said it saw some pullback in spending from lower-income shoppers, but overall it is gaining market share, especially among higher-income shoppers. The company also said it was moving its stock listing to Nasdaq from the New York Stock Exchange. Its shares rose 6.5%.
