Wall Street ended lower on Thursday, with losses in private equity companies and weakness in Walmart and Apple, while earnings-driven gains in industrials limited losses.

Private equity companies slid after Blue Owl Capital's decision to sell US$1.4 ⁠billion in assets and freeze redemptions at one of its funds to manage debt and return capital.

Apollo Global Management, Ares, KKR & Co and Carlyle Group all fell between 1.9 percent and 5.2 percent as Blue Owl's troubles added to recent worries about credit quality and lenders' exposure to software stocks. Blue Owl tumbled 6 percent.

Apple dipped 1.4 percent, weighing more than any other stock on the S&P 500.

Walmart dipped 1.4 percent after new CEO John Furner kicked off his tenure with a conservative fiscal 2027 forecast, as well as a US$30 billion buyback plan.

AI-linked technology stocks have faced turbulence in recent months due to concerns about high valuations and limited evidence that massive investments in ⁠AI are driving revenue and profit growth.

Industries ranging from software to logistics have also been hit ⁠by concerns that rapidly improving AI ⁠tools could disrupt their business models and steepen competition.

"The market is trying to grapple with what business lines are under threat in a material way from AI. This technology is developing extraordinarily rapidly and days ⁠like today feel natural.

We're at a moment in the cycle where you realise that not everyone's going to win and not all expectations are going to be met," said Keith Buchanan, senior portfolio manager at GLOBALT Investments in Atlanta.

Deere & Co jumped 11.6 percent after the farm-machinery maker raised its annual profit forecast and beat first-quarter results estimates.

The S&P 500 fell 0.3 percent, to 6,861. The Dow fell 0.5 percent, to 49,395, while the Nasdaq fell 0.3 percent, to 22,682. (Reuters)



Edited by Robert Kemp