Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange during morning trading on October 21, 2026 in New York City.

Stocks mostly slid Thursday on renewed concerns around spending by artificial intelligence companies, while oil prices jumped amid rising geopolitical tensions.

The Nasdaq Composite pulled back 2.6% to 26,008.86, while the S&P 500 shed 1.21% to close at 7,663.43. The tech-heavy index suffered its worst session since June, while the S&P 500 posted its worst daily performance since July. The Dow Jones Industrial Average inched up 11.89 points, or 0.02%, to end at 52,867.98.

Meta Platforms slipped about 7%, even as it exceeded revenue expectations and offered upbeat guidance. Technology more broadly was under pressure as well as ongoing concerns about artificial intelligence spending persisted. Advanced Micro Devices fell more than 8%, while Micron Technology and Nvidia dropped 6% and 4%, respectively.

Neocloud leader CoreWeave , whose bond yields and credit default swaps remained elevated, declined 10% as well. The move comes as Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang told CNBC Thursday that demand for neoclouds is "off the charts." However, he added that capital is scarce and impeding growth.

Huang's commentary about a scarcity of capital is "spooking markets and reigniting the concerns around the capital markets on the credit side being full from a risk appetite standpoint," said Wells Fargo traders in a note. They also said Meta's comments about the large amount of AI funding needed caused the shares to roll over and weighed on the overall market.

JPMorgan traders noted that Wednesday's bullish "tone reversed overnight" because Meta shares rolled over in the premarket and chatter increased "over renewed Iran kinetic-risk post US mid-term election."

Additionally, "underlying price actions and feedback from our trading desk also suggested the still fragile narrative around AI financing concerns and the lack of conviction/re-grossing from the recent tech reversal," they said in a note to clients.

Oil prices, meanwhile, jumped after The New York Times reported, citing sources, that the U.S. and Israel have plans for renewed strikes against Iran following next month's midterm U.S. elections. President Donald Trump also told reporters late Wednesday that Washington is not negotiating with Tehran and that something will happen "fairly soon."

International benchmark Brent crude futures rose 4% to settle at $113.17 per barrel. West Texas Intermediate crude futures advanced 2.39% to $99.47 per barrel.

Investors also turned to U.S. Treasurys in their search for a safe haven. The benchmark 10-year Treasury note yield dropped more than 17 basis points to 4.972%, falling to its lowest level in almost a month. The 2-year note yield also shed more than 16 basis points to 4.659%.