New York, June 3, 2026, 16:03 (EDT)
Dow Jones dropped 581.84 points, or 1.13%, ending after hours at 50,725.95 on Wednesday, early figures showed. Wall Street pulled back from earlier highs as worries about the Middle East came up again. The S&P 500 lost 0.74% to 7,555.67. Nasdaq Composite fell 0.85% to 26,862.93, with tech and financial names weaker, though chips held up. Ross Mayfield at Baird said AI stocks are “trading on their own completely separate world.” Bill Northey of U.S. Bank Wealth Management tied inflation wagers to how long the Strait of Hormuz remains closed. Reuters
AI-linked shares slumped, a rare move for a market that has favored the sector. The Dow ended up 0.45% at 51,307.79 on Tuesday. The S&P 500 was up 0.13% and the Nasdaq eked out a 0.03% gain, with demand for chipmakers and AI infrastructure stocks holding firm. “There’s a lot going on under the hood,” said Mike Dickson at Horizon Investments. Reuters
The Dow is made up of 30 large U.S. companies, weighted by their share prices. S&P Dow Jones Indices says the Dow covers major industries but skips transportation and utilities.
Oil moved higher, with Brent crude settling up 1.89% at $97.81 a barrel as new tensions in the Middle East grabbed attention. The U.S. 10-year Treasury yield pushed to 4.489%. Sellers had a reason to leave. “The broad market and tech have rallied a lot and are just taking a breather,” said Wasif Latif, chief investment officer at Sarmaya Partners. Latif pointed to headlines from the Middle East as the trigger for most of the day’s selling. Reuters
IBM and Salesforce slid during the session, dragging the Dow lower. IBM lost 6.6%, while Salesforce fell 4.1%. The two stocks together cut nearly 184 points from the blue-chip index, MarketWatch said. A $1 move in any Dow name shifts the index by about 6.16 points, according to the outlet.
Growth stocks lost buyers, but traders kept picking up AI chip names. Investors stayed interested in certain tech names, while interest dropped off in broader software, bank, and asset manager stocks.
Oil and bond yields are a concern for the rally’s next leg. If the Strait of Hormuz reopens and stays open, crude might ease and equities could steady. A longer closure risks higher inflation and borrowing costs, with smaller stocks and rate-sensitive shares taking the biggest hit—the same sectors that lagged on Wednesday. AP reported Wall Street still expects a possible U.S.-Iran deal over the Strait, but higher yields were already dragging stocks.
Stocks face a question after Wednesday’s slide: was it just a pause after hitting fresh highs, or the start of a larger move? Right now, AI demand jitters aren’t hitting the Dow. Instead, traders are watching if oil, rates and geopolitics hold steady so the rally can keep going.
