Back to today’s briefing

Story perspectives

US Stocks Slip, AI Chips Drop, Oil $105

4/29/2026

46 6 Full Breakdown

Summary

U.S. Markets Fall

U.S. markets fell on April 29, 2026 as the S&P 500 closed at 7,138.80 and the Dow at 49,141.93.
AI chip shares fell (Broadcom -4.4%, Nvidia -1.6%, Micron -3.9%, Oracle -4%) as Brent rose to $104.95, WTI topped $100 and gasoline hit $4.18.
The Federal Reserve was expected to keep rates steady while the Senate Banking Committee will vote on Kevin Warsh’s Federal Reserve chair nomination as tech giants report earnings.

Summary

Tech Giants Invest

Alphabet, Amazon, Meta and Microsoft pledged to spend over half a trillion dollars this year on AI infrastructure.
Nvidia H200 GPU spot prices rose to $3.82 per hour this month from $2.27 in January.
IDC projects DRAM will cost $9.71 per gigabyte in 2026, up from $3.76 in 2025, tightening data-center memory supply.
Meta will cut roughly 8,000 jobs, about 10% of its workforce, to offset AI-related cost pressures.

History

Historical Context

During the 2008 crisis, the Dow slipped below 8,000 as the Federal Reserve cut rates to near-zero and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson secured a $700 billion rescue plan after Lehman’s September 15 bankruptcy. The 2026 plunge of Nvidia and Broadcom mirrors that volatility, prompting renewed calls for tighter monetary policy and congressional oversight of tech-focused financing.

1 of 3

U.S. Markets Fall

U.S. markets fell on April 29, 2026 as the S&P 500 closed at 7,138.80 and the Dow at 49,141.93.
AI chip shares fell (Broadcom -4.4%, Nvidia -1.6%, Micron -3.9%, Oracle -4%) as Brent rose to $104.95, WTI topped $100 and gasoline hit $4.18.
The Federal Reserve was expected to keep rates steady while the Senate Banking Committee will vote on Kevin Warsh’s Federal Reserve chair nomination as tech giants report earnings.

1 / 3