The Dow Jones Industrial Average hit a fresh record high on Monday, after topping 50,000 for the first time last week. The S&P 500 and teach-heavy Nasdaq also climbed, continuing to reverse major losses suffered days earlier.
The performance marked the latest move in topsy-turvy markets — and that rollercoaster may very well continue, some analysts told ABC News.
Analysts attributed the volatility to a flurry of developments in artificial intelligence (AI), and a perception of looming geopolitical uncertainty. Mixed signals in economic data have also left markets uneven, some analysts added. Such factors could keep stock prices on edge, they said, before noting the difficulty of predicting short-term stock performance.
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“AI is driving extreme reactions,” Ivan Feinseth, a market analyst at Tigress Financial, told ABC News. “That volatility is going to increase.”
Shares of some tech companies worldwide plummeted last week after Anthropic unveiled an AI tool viewed by some investors as a potential replacement for widely-used software products.
Anthropic released a set of new plugins for a digital tool called Claude Cowork, an AI-fueled workplace assistant that can author documents and organize files. The plugins, released on Jan. 30, allow customers to adapt the tool for narrow sectors like legal, finance or data marketing.
“There’s a worry that AI will eventually disrupt those businesses,” Bret Kenwell, an investing analyst at eToro, told ABC News. “People are looking at these losses, selling first and asking questions later.”
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Some tech giants, meanwhile, revealed plans for massive investments in AI. On Thursday, Amazon forecasted $200 billion in spending on AI this year, which would amount to a 50% jump in its capital expenditure from 2025. Shares of the company have fallen more than 10% since the start of last week.
In all, four major tech companies — Amazon, Microsoft, Google and Meta — are expected to spend a combined $630 billion this year, Reuters reported. Each of those companies saw shares fall over the past week.
Many other stocks turned higher late last week, including companies in the energy and industrial sector, according to Kenwell.
“The Dow is at record highs but if you look at crypto or technology, investors don’t feel that way,” Kenwell said. “Some areas are insulated and some areas are fully exposed.”
