US STOCKS-S&P, Nasdaq fall as tech weighs; defense stocks climb on Trump's budget hike call

The day's moves follow Wall Street's main indexes' mixed session on Wednesday, where the S&P 500 ‍and the Dow pulled back from their record highs to end lower, while the Nasdaq stood firm on investor optimism around AI-related stocks. Meanwhile, the number of Americans filing new applications for unemployment ​benefits rose moderately last week, suggesting that layoffs were relatively low at the end of 2025, though demand for labor remained sluggish.

The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq fell on Thursday as losses in heavyweight technology stocks weighed, while defense companies advanced after President Donald Trump called for a $1.5 trillion military budget.

Technology stocks lost more than 1.5%, with Nvidia , Apple, Microsoft, ⁠and Broadcom down between 1.1% and 2.1%. The sector was among the worst-performing for the day. Alphabet's shares were up 0.7% after the Google-parent on Wednesday surpassed Apple in market capitalization for the first time since 2019, becoming the second-largest U.S. company.

On Thursday, defense stocks drew attention following Trump's statement that the 2027 U.S. military budget should be $1.5 trillion, significantly ​higher than the $901 billion approved by Congress for 2026. RTX gained 4.4%, Lockheed Martin was up 8%, Northrop Grumman inched 9.5% higher and Kratos Defense advanced 16.4%. The ‍broader aerospace and defense index gained 3.5% to hit an all-time high.

Defense stocks rebounded after falling on Wednesday following Trump's threat to block defense contractors from paying dividends or buying back shares until they speed up weapons production. This comes days after U.S. military forces captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. The White House said on Tuesday that Trump was also discussing options for acquiring Greenland.

At 9:52 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial ⁠Average rose 37.23 ‌points, or 0.08%, to 49,033.31, the S&P ⁠500 lost 6.27 points, or 0.09%, to 6,914.66 and the Nasdaq Composite lost 142.39 points, or 0.58%, to 23,448.17. The day's moves follow Wall Street's main indexes' mixed session on Wednesday, where the S&P 500 ‍and the Dow pulled back from their record highs to end lower, while the Nasdaq stood firm on investor optimism around AI-related stocks.

Meanwhile, the number of Americans filing new applications for unemployment ​benefits rose moderately

last week, suggesting that layoffs were relatively low at the end of 2025, though demand for labor remained sluggish. Also pointing to Wednesday's ADP report, ⁠Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist at CFRA Research, said, "both data points ended up pointing to a softening in the job picture, that's what's causing the market to be a bit concerned about Friday's employment data."

Separate reports on ⁠Wednesday pointed to a weak picture, with job openings dropping to a 14-month low, while hiring remained sluggish. The focus this week will be on Friday's crucial nonfarm payrolls report for December, which would be among the first reliable datasets after the longest U.S. shutdown in history.

Fitch raised its U.S. growth outlook, estimating GDP expanded 2.1% in ⁠2025 and forecasting 2.0% growth in 2026 after incorporating economic data delayed by last year's government shutdown. Among other stocks, Applied Digital rose 13.3% after the data center operator reported ⁠second-quarter revenue above Wall Street estimates on ‌Wednesday.

Ford shares gained 3.6% after Piper Sandler upgraded the automaker to "overweight" from "neutral". Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.15-to-1 ratio on the NYSE, while declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 1.08-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.

The S&P 500 posted 19 new 52-week highs and ⁠13 new lows, while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 49 new highs and 27 new lows.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)