Market Correction: AI Stocks Lead 4.4% S&P 500 Drop

The S&P 500 index dropped 4.4% on Thursday, marking its steepest decline since April 2025. This sharp fall erased the U.S. stock market's gains from the previous day, which had been its best performance in three months. The selling pressure was concentrated in stocks linked to the construction of artificial intelligence data centers.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 1,833 points, a 3.4% decrease. The Nasdaq composite, which contains a high concentration of technology and AI-related companies, fell 5.5%. This decline placed the Nasdaq 11.9% below its all-time high established last month. The sell-off represented a significant reversal for investors who had recently rallied in the tech sector.

In other domestic news, a gunman who killed a woman at Citibank's Tampa office complex targeted the campus over a $2,500 debt collection. Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister stated that Jacob Pearson, 35, had no prior criminal history. Pearson called an attorney affiliated with Citibank about three hours before the shooting to threaten violence if a court hearing on his unpaid credit card debt was not canceled.

During that phone call, Pearson told the lawyer to cancel the hearing unless he wanted Pearson to arrive with an AR-15 rifle and a bulletproof vest. Chronister said the sheriff's office determined the shooter targeted the specific office complex because of this financial dispute. Pearson was fatally shot by a security guard at the scene.

In California, Governor Gavin Newsom announced he will commute more than 500 death sentences to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Newsom said in a public letter that state-sanctioned killing is incompatible with California's values. The state Supreme Court will have the final say in hundreds of these cases. Newsom, who is considering a presidential run, placed a moratorium on executions in the state in 2019.

In Florida, the state carried out its 19th execution of the year, tying the national record. Jesse Guardado was pronounced dead at 6:13 p.m. following a three-drug injection at a prison in Starke. He had pleaded guilty to fatally stabbing 75-year-old Jackie Malone in her Walton County home in 2004. Guardado stole her jewelry box, $80, and other valuables after she helped him secure a job and housing.

In Washington, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer vowed that Democrats will not allow President Donald Trump to appoint a right-winger to the Supreme Court once they take power. Schumer told The Associated Press that Democrats are not going to allow any crappy nominees to be confirmed to the Supreme Court or lower courts. He did not specify if he would hold a vacancy open until after the next presidential election, a strategy used by former Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell in 2016.