Sinking AI stocks and rising oil prices weigh on Wall Street

Traders Jonathan Mueller, left, and Michael Capolino confer on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Thursday, April 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

NEW YORK — Sinking AI stocks and another climb in oil prices because of the Iran war helped pull Wall Street off its record heights on Tuesday.

The S&P 500 fell 0.5 per cent from its latest all-time high. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 25 points, or 0.1 per cent, while the Nasdaq composite fell 0.9 per cent from its own record.

Stocks in the artificial-intelligence industry led the way lower. Chip company Broadcom was the heaviest weight on the S&P 500 after sinking 4.4 per cent. Drops of 1.6 per cent for Nvidia and 3.9 per cent for Micron Technology also undercut the market.

• S&P 500 market updates here

The weakness came after a report in The Wall Street Journal said some leaders at OpenAI are concerned about whether it can support its massive spending on data centers after missing targets for new users and revenue. If the maker of ChatGPT pulls back on its investments, it could bolster criticism that the entire AI industry is in a bubble of over-the-top spending that may not produce the profits and productivity that would make it all worth it.

The drops came just a day before several of the biggest spenders on AI are scheduled to report their latest results for the start of 2026. They could offer more clues on whether all the investment in AI is producing the kind of returns that shareholders care about.

Alphabet, Amazon, Meta Platforms and Microsoft are all reporting their latest quarterly results on Wednesday.

Also weighing on the stock market was another rise for oil prices on continued uncertainty about what will happen with the Iran war.

The price for a barrel of Brent crude oil to be delivered in June climbed 2.8 per cent to settle at $111.26. Brent to be delivered in July, which is where more of the trading is happening in the oil market, rose 2.7 per cent to $104.40.

After sitting around $70 in late February, Brent prices are moving closer to their peak of $119 reached when worries about the war have been at their heights.

• Stay on top of your portfolio with real-time data, historical charts and the latest news on oil

The focus is on the Strait of Hormuz, whose effective closure is keeping oil tankers stuck in the Persian Gulf instead of heading to customers worldwide. The Trump administration seemed unlikely Tuesday to accept Iran’s offer to reopen the Strait of Hormuz if the U.S. lifts its blockade on the country.

The proposal would postpone discussions on the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program, something that U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio appeared to rule out in a Fox News interview Monday.

Meanwhile, the average price for a gallon of gasoline in the United States reached $4.18 on Tuesday, the most since 2022, according to the auto club AAA.

Expensive fuel was one of the reasons JetBlue Airways reported a worse loss for the start of 2026 than analysts expected.

But its stock nevertheless rose 1.2 per cent after CEO Joanna Geraghty said the airline saw demand from customers strengthening through the quarter. JetBlue also announced moves to rein in fuel costs, such as cutting some flying.

Another stock helping to limit Wall Street’s losses was Coca-Cola’s. It rallied 3.9 per cent after reporting stronger profit and revenue for the latest quarter than analysts expected, thanks in part to strength from China, the United States and India.

All told, the S&P 500 fell 35.11 points to 7,138.80. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 25.86 to 49,141.93, and the Nasdaq composite sank 223.30 to 24,663.80.

In the bond market, Treasury yields held relatively steady after a report showed U.S. consumers are feeling slightly more confident in April, when economists expected to see a decline. The yield on the 10-year Treasury remained at 4.35 per cent, where it was late Monday.

On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve is set to announce its latest decision on short-term interest rates. The widespread expectation is that it will hold the federal funds rate steady and hold off on resuming its cuts. Lower interest rates would help the economy, but they also risk worsening inflation when oil is expensive and tariffs are threatening to push prices higher.

Also Wednesday, the Senate Banking Committee will vote on whether to confirm President Donald Trump’s nominee, Kevin Warsh, to succeed Fed Chair Jerome Powell. The committee is expected to approve Warsh and send his nomination to the full Senate.

In stock markets abroad, indexes fell across much of Europe and Asia.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 sank 1 per cent for one of the world’s larger losses after the Bank of Japan opted in a split vote to keep its key interest rate unchanged.

“There are various risks to the outlook,” it said in a statement. “For the time being it is necessary to pay particular attention to the impact of the future course of the situation in the Middle East.”

___

AP Business Writers Yuri Kageyama and Matt Ott contributed to this report.