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Snowflake surges on upbeat 2026 product revenue forecast

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Salesforce ( CRM ) falls on downbeat annual revenue forecast

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US weekly jobless claims rise more than expected

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Indexes: S&P 500 down 0.22%, Nasdaq down 0.88%, Dow up

0.45%

(Updates with afternoon trading)

By Noel Randewich and Johann M Cherian

Feb 26 (Reuters) - The S&P 500 and Nasdaq fell on

Thursday, weighed down by a drop in AI heavyweight Nvidia ( NVDA )

following its quarterly report, while investors focused on data

pointing to a cooling U.S. economy.

Nvidia ( NVDA ) dropped 6% after the U.S. chip provider gave

a weaker-than-expected quarterly forecast for gross margin that

overshadowed an upbeat revenue forecast.

Chipmakers Broadcom and Advanced Micro Devices ( AMD )

also fell, pulling the Philadelphia chip index

down almost 4%.

The launch of low-cost artificial intelligence models from

China's DeepSeek in January has cooled Wall Street's AI rally,

while an analyst report this week suggesting Microsoft was

scrapping some data center leases also raised concerns of AI

overcapacity.

Nvidia ( NVDA ) has now fallen 17% from its record-high close on

January 6.

"Nvidia's ( NVDA ) earnings were good but not like the blockbuster

earnings that they've been delivering for a while," said Scott

Welch, chief investment officer at Certuity.

"Any company that is successful in bringing forward capable

artificial intelligence at a lower cost - that's going to have

an effect on these big megacap tech stocks."

The S&P 500 was down 0.22% at 5,942.67 points.

The Nasdaq declined 0.88% to 18,907.00 points, while the Dow

Jones Industrial Average was up 0.45% at 43,629.76 points.

While tech stocks dipped, other areas of the market saw

gains. The S&P energy index rose 1.4%, tracking a jump

in crude prices after U.S. President Donald Trump canceled oil

major Chevron's license to operate in Venezuela.

Weighing on investor sentiment, data showed jobless claims

jumped more than expected in the previous week, while another

report reiterated that economic growth slowed in the fourth

quarter.

Thursday's data follows reports over the past week that

suggested the economy was stalling, fears of which have also put

all three major U.S. indexes on track for monthly declines.

"We're now seeing inflation fears give way to growth fears,

and that, in turn, is causing stocks to go, at best, sideways,

and potentially even down," said Michael Green, chief strategist

at Simplify Asset Management in Philadelphia.

On the trade front, Trump floated a 25% reciprocal tariff on

European cars and other goods. He also said tariffs on Mexico

and Canada will go into effect on Tuesday.

Investors are focused on monthly Personal Consumption

Expenditure data, which is the Federal Reserve's preferred

inflation gauge, due on Friday.

Traders expect the Fed to lower borrowing costs by at least

50 basis points by December, according to data compiled by LSEG.

Shares of Salesforce ( CRM ) dropped 1.4% after the business

software seller forecast fiscal 2026 revenue below expectations.

Snowflake rallied 9% after the data analytics

provider forecast fiscal 2026 product revenue above estimates.

Viatris ( VTRS ) slumped 13% after the drugmaker forecast

downbeat annual results.

Warner Bros Discovery ( WBD ) jumped 10% after saying it

expects streaming profits to double this year.

Advancing issues outnumbered falling ones within the S&P 500

by a 1.6-to-one ratio.

The S&P 500 posted 19 new highs and seven new lows. The

Nasdaq recorded 39 new highs and 177 new lows.