Feb. 5, 2026, 11:59 a.m. ET
Financial markets tumbled Feb. 5 as concerns about the economy and overheated assets galvanized investors.
Just before noon on Wall Street, the broad S&P 500 was down more than 1%, near 6,810, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average was 1% lower, near 49,025. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite lost 1.2% to trade near 22,636. All three major indices were off earlier lows, however.
Stocks have been battered by back-and-forth signals from earnings reports about the impact of AI on corporate bottom lines. On Feb. 4, Google parent Alphabet said it was planning to spend as much as $185 billion on capital investments to accommodate new technology. The stock was down more than 3% late morning on Feb. 5.
Meanwhile, a parade of economic data released Thursday seemed to suggest a sharper weakening of the labor market than analysts had expected. Planned job cuts were at the highest since 2009, while job openings fell.
Bitcoin plunged to its lowest level since 2024 after famed investor Michael Burry wrote that the cryptocurrency’s falling price could “set in motion a death spiral leading to massive value destruction.” Burry, whose correct call about the 2008 financial crisis was profiled in “The Big Short,” said that some investors may be forced to liquidate other assets to cover their losses.
On Feb. 4, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Congress that the U.S. government would not buy bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies in order to support price levels.
Bitcoin was last trading around $67,389, down 8.5%, while Ethereum was off more than 7%, near $1,966. Gold fell another 2%, to about $4,851 an ounce.
Investors were even selling government bonds: the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury slid nearly 7 basis points to about 4.206%.
