U.S. stocks fell Thursday after Oracle Corp. posted its biggest decline in nearly a year, reigniting concerns that heavy spending on artificial intelligence is straining balance sheets faster than it is generating returns.
At the same time, the crypto market traded with relative stability, decoupling slightly from weakness in stocks as traders remained selective about risk.
Bitcoin traded above $92,000, according to CoinDesk data, extending its modest gains after holding key support earlier this week. The largest token rose about 2.6% on the day, stabilizing after a period of volatility that briefly dragged prices toward $90,000.
Traders appeared more focused on preserving trend structure than continuing higher, with flows concentrated in large-cap assets.
“Large institutions are increasingly divided on the path forward,” Bitunix analysts told CoinDesk in an email. “Some argue that improving inflation warrants further cuts from March, while others expect a pause in January, a wait-and-see approach during the first half of the year, or even a delay in easing until after June.”
“Several Wall Street firms noted that this ‘hawkish taper’ highlights the FOMC’s increasing difficulty maintaining cohesion under Powell’s leadership,” the email added.
Ether rose alongside bitcoin, climbing towards $3,260, while SOL outperformed the majors with a jump of over 6%, reflecting renewed interest in higher beta layer 1 tokens as risk appetite selectively returned.
XRP and BNB posted more modest gains, remaining range-bound as investors waited for clearer signals on spot ETF developments and the broader market direction. Dogecoin rose slightly but remained down on a weekly basis, continuing to reflect broader sentiment rather than token-specific catalysts.
Oracle shares fell more than 11%, the biggest one-day decline since January, after the company revealed a sharp increase in capital spending related to data centers and AI infrastructure.
Quarterly spending climbed to about $12 billion, well above expectations, while the company raised its full-year investment forecast to about $50 billion, an increase of $15 billion from its September guidance.
The move raised new doubts about when investments in AI will translate meaningfully 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 overall sentiment in the tech sector, particularly AI-related stocks that have fueled much of the stock’s rally this year. The Nasdaq 100 fell as investors cautiously shifted to other sectors, highlighting a growing sensitivity to spending discipline rather than just top-line growth.
As markets digest both the Federal Reserve’s more fragmented outlook and increasing scrutiny of the AI economy, investors appear poised to remain tactical.
Near-term direction will likely depend less on policy signals than on whether earnings and liquidity can justify the next risk-taking on assets.
