US stocks fell on Thursday after Oracle Corp posted its biggest drop in nearly a year, reigniting concerns that big spending on artificial intelligence is straining balance sheets faster than it is generating returns.
Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency market traded relatively stable, modestly decoupling weak stocks as traders remained selective about risk.
Bitcoin traded back above $92,000, According to CoinDesk dataextending its modest gains after holding key support earlier this week. The largest coin rose roughly 2.6% on the day, stabilizing after a volatile stretch that briefly pulled prices toward the $90,000 level.
Traders appeared more focused on maintaining the trend structure rather than chasing the upside, with flows concentrated in large-cap assets.
“Major institutions are increasingly divided on the future path,” Bitunix analysts told CoinDesk in an email. “Some see improving inflation as supporting further cuts from March, while others expect a pause in January, a wait-and-see approach during the first half, or even a delay in easing beyond June.”
“Many Wall Street firms noted that this ‘hardening cut’ highlights the increasing difficulty the FOMC is having in maintaining cohesion under Powell’s leadership,” the email added.
Ethereum rose alongside Bitcoin, rising towards $3,260, while SOL outperformed the majors with a jump of more than 6%, reflecting renewed interest in higher beta tier-one tokens as selective risk appetite returns.
XRP and BNB posted smaller gains, staying within a range as investors waited for clearer signals about the immediate developments of ETFs and the direction of the broader market. Dogecoin rose but remained lower on a weekly basis, continuing to reflect broader sentiment rather than token-specific catalysts.
Oracle shares fell more than 11%, the largest one-day decline since January, after the company revealed a sharp increase in capital expenditures related to artificial intelligence data centers and infrastructure.
Quarterly spending rose to about $12 billion, well above expectations, while the company raised its full-year capital expenditure forecast to nearly $50 billion — an increase of $15 billion from the September forecast.
The move raised new doubts about when AI investments will translate meaningfully into cloud revenue, pushing Oracle stock to its lowest level since early 2024 and sending a measure of credit risk to a 16-year high.
The sell-off weighed on broader technology sentiment, particularly across AI-related names that have fueled much of the stock’s rally this year. The Nasdaq 100 fell, while investors turned cautiously to other sectors, underscoring growing sensitivity to spending discipline rather than overall growth alone.
As markets digest a more divided Fed outlook and increasing scrutiny of the economics of AI, investors appear poised to remain tactical.
The near-term trend is likely to depend less on policy signals and more on whether earnings and liquidity can justify the next phase of risk-taking across assets.
