Markets News, Feb. 5, 2026: Stocks End Sharply Lower for 3rd Straight Day as Risk-Off Sentiment Grips Markets; Dow Sheds 600 Points, Bitcoin Plunges

Major stock indexes closed sharply lower and bitcoin plunged Thursday amid broad risk-off sentiment, as investors weighed the latest Big Tech earnings and downbeat labor data.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq and benchmark S&P 500 posted their third straight losing sessions, falling 1.6% and 1.2%, respectively. The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average finished down 1.2%, or nearly 600 points.

Jobless claims for the week ending Jan. 31 came in at 231,000, higher than economists’ estimates of 212,000 and the prior week’s 209,000. In addition, U.S. employers announced more than 108,000 layoffs in January, per Challenger, Gray & Christmas data, their highest level for that month since 2009.

Shares of Alphabet (GOOGL) slipped 0.8% Thursday, a day after the Google parent posted better-than-expected fourth-quarter results but said its 2026 capex would be between $175 billion and $185 billion, roughly double its 2025 level. Investors have been concerned about companies’ AI spending in recent months.

Qualcomm (QCOM) stock sank 8.5% after its current-quarter forecasts came up short of analysts’ estimates, which executives attributed to the global memory shortage.

In other post-earnings moves, shares of Peloton Interactive (PTON) plummeted 28%, Estee Lauder (EL) retreated 19%, Snap (SNAP) sank 12%, and Shell (SHEL) declined 5%. McKesson (MCK) soared 17%, Tapestry (TPR) jumped 10%, Hershey (HSY) surged 9%, and Arm Holdings (ARM) added nearly 6%.

Investors were eagerly anticipating results after the close today from Amazon (AMZN), whose shares fell 4.4%. (The stock tumbled in after-hours trading following a disappointing earnings report.) Most of its Magnificent Seven brethren also were lower, with Microsoft (MSFT) the biggest decliner at 5%.

Bitcoin continued its descent, falling to near $62,000—its lowest level since October 2024. The biggest cryptocurrency has lost about 25% of its value this week. Meanwhile, shares of bitcoin treasury firm Strategy (MSTR) sank 17% to pace Nasdaq decliners ahead of its earnings after markets close today.

Silver futures, which had reached as high as about $121.75 an ounce last Thursday, plunged 13% to near $73 as of 4:00 p.m. ET. Gold futures, which had surged to roughly $5,625 an ounce a week ago, slipped more than 2% to $4,835.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury—which impacts interest rates on a variety of consumer loans including mortgages—fell to 4.20% from Wednesday’s close of 4.28%. West Texas Intermediate crude futures, the U.S. benchmark, declined almost 3% to $63.30 a barrel.

The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the value of the greenback against a basket of global currencies, rose 0.3% to 97.88.