U.S. Stocks Retreat as Oracle Slides on AI Spending Concerns, Bitcoin Reclaims $92K

U.S. stocks retreated on Thursday after Oracle Corp. posted its steepest single-day decline in nearly a year, reigniting market concerns that aggressive artificial intelligence spending is pressuring corporate balance sheets faster than it is delivering returns. The selloff weighed heavily on technology shares, particularly AI-linked names that have driven much of the 2024 equity rally, while the crypto market showed relative stability and modest decoupling from equity weakness.

Oracle shares plunged more than 11%, marking their biggest drop since January, after the company revealed a sharp increase in capital expenditures tied to AI data centers and infrastructure. Quarterly spending surged to roughly $12 billion, far exceeding expectations, and Oracle raised its full-year capex outlook to around $50 billion, about $15 billion higher than its September forecast. The announcement fueled doubts over when AI investments will translate into sustainable cloud revenue growth, pushing Oracle’s stock to its lowest level since early 2024 and sending indicators of its credit risk to a 16-year high.

The broader tech selloff dragged the Nasdaq 100 lower, as investors rotated cautiously into other sectors and showed growing sensitivity to spending discipline rather than headline growth alone. At the same time, markets continued to digest uncertainty around Federal Reserve policy, with analysts divided on whether cooling inflation will lead to rate cuts as early as March or a prolonged wait-and-see approach through mid-2025.

In contrast, the crypto market traded with relative calm. Bitcoin climbed back above $92,000, rising about 2.6% on the day, according to CoinDesk data. The largest cryptocurrency stabilized after recent volatility that briefly pushed prices toward the low $90,000s. Trading activity suggested investors were focused on preserving the broader uptrend rather than aggressively chasing upside, with flows concentrated in large-cap digital assets.

Ether advanced alongside bitcoin toward $3,260, while Solana outperformed major tokens with gains exceeding 6%, reflecting selective risk appetite for higher-beta layer-1 assets. XRP and BNB posted modest gains but remained range-bound as investors awaited clearer signals around spot ETF developments. Dogecoin edged higher on the day but stayed lower on a weekly basis, continuing to track broader market sentiment rather than token-specific catalysts.

With scrutiny intensifying around AI economics and the Federal Reserve outlook appearing increasingly fractured, investors across equities and crypto are likely to remain tactical. Near-term market direction may depend less on policy signals and more on whether earnings growth and liquidity conditions can justify the next phase of risk-taking.