US equities retreated from record highs on Thursday, pulled lower by a sharp selloff in enterprise software and renewed geopolitical anxiety over stalled US-Iran peace negotiations. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 49'310 (-0.4%), the S&P 500 at 7'108 (-0.4%), and the Nasdaq Composite led the decline at 24'439 (-0.9%). Breadth was poor, with only 36.5% of issues advancing; the session split sharply between software names that sold off on earnings disappointments and defensives, utilities (+2.8%), industrials (+1.8%), and staples (+1.7%), that attracted rotation flows.
In Europe, the DJ STOXX 600 closed at 614 (-0.8%), the FTSE 100 at 10'457 (-0.8%), and the Swiss SMI at 13'248 (-0.7%), weighed by elevated oil prices and Germany's decision to halve its 2026 GDP growth forecast to 0.5% amid Strait of Hormuz disruption.
This morning in Asia, the Nikkei 225 closed at 59'716 (+1.0%), with the Hang Seng roughly flat at 25'951 and the Shanghai Composite easing to 4'081 (-0.3%).
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