The S&P fell 1.6 percent, the Dow Jones industrial average lost 0.8 percent and the Nasdaq's technology-heavy composite index fell 2.2 percent.
Among the yo-yo stocks was AI giant Nvidia, which late Wednesday night presented interim results in which both sales and profit were higher than analysts had predicted. The stock then rose in after-hours trading, continuing up 5 percent at the open on Thursday – but by the close Nvidia had fallen 3.2 percent.
Walmart went the other way. The department store giant surged 6.5 percent after delivering another successful quarterly report with increased sales and higher profits – figures that far exceeded forecasts.
