S&P 500 Falls in Retreat From Risk as Block Cuts Spur AI Anxiety
Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.
Photographer: Michael Nagle/BloombergUS stocks dropped as risk-off sentiment swept through markets and fintech Block Inc.’s massive layoffs fanned angst that artificial-intelligence risks upending broad sections of the economy.
A larger-than-forecast 0.5% increase in producer prices last month, fueled by services, also weighed on equities by signaling inflationary pressures that may keep the Federal Reserve from cutting interest rates. Nvidia Corp., the heaviest-weighted stock in the S&P 500, extended its post-earnings decline.