S&P 500 retreats from record, led by AI names Nvidia and Oracle

The S&P 500 took a pause from its recent gains on Tuesday as doubts about the sustainability of the artificial intelligence bull trend plagued investors.

The broad market index pulled back 0.3% after reaching a new all-time intraday high earlier in the session, its fourth consecutive record. The Nasdaq Composite fell 0.4%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average hovered around the flatline and had also scored a fresh record high in the trading day.

Nvidia shares were down more than 2%, while Oracle lost 4% as worries surfaced around the AI trade. The move comes a day after the chipmaker announced a $100 billion investment in OpenAI. While the announcement gave a boost to the stock and the broader marker in the previous session, some investors fear the move resembles events seen in previous bubbles.

Still, the broader market was able to hang on and keep losses to a minimum on Tuesday. The small-cap Russell 2000 additionally managed to reach an all-time high during the session.

“You’re getting just a broad participation as a result of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which kind of solidified people’s tax expectations, and then you did get the rate cut from the [Federal Reserve], so you’ve had this sort of break for smaller companies on writing off more interest and then lowering the cost of interest with the Fed’s cutting last week,” Tom Hainlin of U.S. Bank Asset Management told CNBC.