U.S. stocks pulled back Thursday after Oracle Corp. posted its steepest decline in nearly a year, reigniting concerns that heavy artificial intelligence spending is straining balance sheets faster than it is generating returns.
Meanwhile, the crypto market traded with relative stability, decoupling modestly from equity weakness as traders remained selective about risk.
Bitcoin traded back above $92,000, according to CoinDesk data, extending modest gains after holding key support earlier this week. The largest token was up about 2.6% on the day, stabilizing after a volatile stretch that briefly dragged prices toward the low $90,000s.
Traders appeared more focused on preserving trend structure than chasing upside, with flows concentrated in large-cap assets.
“Major institutions are increasingly divided on the forward path,” analysts at Bitunix told CoinDesk in an email. “Some argue improving inflation supports further cuts beginning in March, while others expect a January pause, a wait-and-see approach through the first half, or even a delay in easing until after June.”
“Several Wall Street firms noted that this “hawkish cut” highlights the FOMC’s growing difficulty maintaining cohesion under Powell’s leadership,” the email added.
Ether rose alongside bitcoin, climbing toward $3,260, while SOL outperformed majors with a jump of more than 6%, reflecting renewed interest in higher-beta layer-1 tokens as risk appetite selectively returned.
XRP and BNB posted smaller gains, remaining range-bound as investors awaited clearer signals on spot ETF developments and broader market direction. Dogecoin edged higher but stayed lower on a weekly basis, continuing to mirror broader sentiment rather than token-specific catalysts.
Oracle shares slid more than 11%, the biggest one-day drop since January, after the company disclosed a sharp increase in capital expenditures tied to AI data centers and infrastructure.
Quarterly spending climbed to about $12 billion, well above expectations, while the company lifted its full-year capex outlook to roughly $50 billion — a $15 billion increase from its September forecast.
That move raised fresh doubts over when AI investments will meaningfully translate into cloud revenue, pushing Oracle’s stock to its lowest level since early 2024 and sending a measure of its credit risk to a 16-year high.
The selloff weighed on broader tech sentiment, particularly across AI-linked names that have powered much of this year’s equity rally. The Nasdaq 100 slipped, while investors rotated cautiously into other sectors, underscoring growing sensitivity to spending discipline rather than top-line growth alone.
With markets digesting both a more fractured Federal Reserve outlook and mounting scrutiny of AI economics, investors appear poised to remain tactical.
Near-term direction is likely to hinge less on policy signals and more on whether earnings and liquidity can justify the next leg of risk-taking across assets.
