A brutal sell-off swept through Wall Street Thursday as stocks connected to artificial intelligence and data centers saw steep declines.

The dramatic retreat completely reversed the previous session’s sharp advance, which had marked the strongest performance for American equities in three months.

Plunging 4.4%, the S&P 500 suffered its steepest single-day drop since President Donald Trump rattled international markets in April 2025 by introducing his "Liberation Day" trade tariffs. Meanwhile, the Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 1,833 points, or 3.4%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite plummeted 5.5%.

With its high concentration of technology firms and AI playmakers, the Nasdaq is now down 11.9% from the historic peak it achieved last month.…