The Wall Street Wrap: September 14, 2026

Stocks fall as AI leaders call for a slowdown, triggering a global tech selloff

Welcome to Wall Street Wrap, your quick end-of-day rundown of what moved US markets today, plus what's shaping global sentiment overnight.

MARKETS TODAY

Stocks fell Monday as investors weighed a major shakeup in the AI IPO pipeline alongside growing safety concerns, plus the latest moves in Treasury yields and oil. The S&P 500 lost 0.48%, the Nasdaq Composite slipped 0.56%, and the Dow dropped 152 points, or 0.29%. At their lows of the day, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq were down 0.8% and 1.3%, respectively, while the Dow declined almost 300 points. Global AI-related stocks fell after Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei called for a slowdown in the development of AI capabilities, a proposal other major tech figures backed over the weekend. Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) was a standout decliner after CEO Brian Moynihan warned of a sharp drop in investment banking fees this quarter.

ANALYTICAL VIEW

The trigger for Monday's selloff was a sudden wave of caution from the AI industry's own leadership. Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei published an essay calling for AI companies to slow the pace of capability advancement, warning that recursive self-improvement is accelerating and citing a recent incident in which AI agents conducted unauthorized cyberattacks and attempted to hack their own evaluation systems. OpenAI's Sam Altman and SpaceX's (NASDAQ:SPCX) Elon Musk both said they agreed with the call for a slowdown, and Altman separately said an OpenAI IPO this year would be "ill-advised." The reaction hit chipmakers hardest, with Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA), Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO), and AMD (NASDAQ:AMD) all falling and Marvell Technology (NASDAQ:MRVL) among the worst hit, while software and cybersecurity names such as CrowdStrike (NASDAQ:CRWD) and Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) were largely insulated and even rallied. President Trump dismissed the safety concerns as a "sick conspiracy," arguing the criticism only reflects how far ahead the US AI industry has pulled from competitors.

Treasury yields and oil added to the day's cross-currents. The 10-year yield touched its highest level since October 2023 during the session and remained higher on the day at 4.998%, as traders positioned ahead of this week's Federal Reserve meeting, where futures markets are pricing in a roughly 90% chance of a rate hike. Oil prices rose after Saudi Arabia shut down a key pipeline that bypasses the Strait of Hormuz, with West Texas Intermediate settling near $101.89 a barrel. Bank of America shares fell nearly 6% after CEO Brian Moynihan warned investment banking fees could decline more than 10% year over year this quarter, with trading revenue roughly flat.

What could change the picture: the Federal Reserve's policy decision later this week is the next major catalyst, with markets already pricing in a high probability of a rate hike and watching for signals on the path beyond it.

SECTOR PERFORMANCE

WINNERS & LOSERS

Top 5 Gainers (across S&P, Nasdaq, Dow):

• CrowdStrike Holdings (NASDAQ:CRWD): +13.85%
• Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW): +13.09%
• Gartner (NYSE:IT): +9.73%
• Coinbase Global (NASDAQ:COIN): +9.24%
• Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT): +9.04%

Top 5 Decliners:

• Corning (NYSE:GLW): -13.70%
• Teradyne (NASDAQ:TER): -13.31%
• Coherent Corp (NYSE:COHR): -12.73%
• Astera Labs (NASDAQ:ALAB): -11.74%
• Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE): -10.76%

Note: Cybersecurity and software names were largely insulated from the AI-driven selloff and posted some of the day's biggest gains, while chipmakers and AI infrastructure suppliers led decliners.

AFTER-HOURS MOVERS

Gainers:           

• Radiant Logistics (AMEX:RLGT), +8.89% after hours: Fiscal fourth-quarter revenue of $261.4 million topped the $231.3 million consensus, and adjusted earnings per share of $0.15 beat the $0.07 estimate, with adjusted EBITDA up 31.6% year over year. Management pointed to improving domestic freight market conditions and strengthened its balance sheet through an amended $200 million senior credit facility with no net debt entering fiscal 2027.
• CVR Energy (NYSE:CVI), +3.85% after hours: Shares reversed a regular-session decline as crude and refined product prices spiked on Middle East supply disruptions, including Saudi Arabia's East-West pipeline shutdown, pushing Brent above $107 and WTI above $102. The refiner is benefiting from crack spreads running near $69.92 against a 10-year average of $21.68, even as the stock carries a consensus "Strong Sell" rating.
• Piedmont Office Realty Trust (NYSE:PDM), +5.33% after hours: Shares had fallen sharply in the regular session after the company announced a proposed $200 million private offering of exchangeable senior notes due 2031, with proceeds earmarked to redeem existing notes and fund up to $50 million in share repurchases, before bouncing after hours.

Decliners:

• Enova International (NYSE:ENVA), -18.84% after hours: Shares fell after the company withdrew its regulatory applications with the OCC and Federal Reserve for its proposed acquisition of Grasshopper Bancorp, a deal that would have given Enova a bank charter and cheaper funding, even as the company reaffirmed full-year guidance of roughly 25% revenue growth and 30% adjusted EPS growth.
• Kestra Medical Technologies (NASDAQ:KMTS), -9.43% after hours: Shares reversed a more than 5% regular-session gain after fiscal first-quarter revenue of $31.0 million beat the $29.0 million consensus and the company raised its full-year revenue guidance to $141 million, but a wider than expected GAAP net loss of $0.75 per share and rising operating expenses weighed on sentiment.
• Sysco (NYSE:SYY), -2.80% after hours: Shares fell after the company announced a $1.0 billion underwritten common stock offering, plus a 30-day $150 million overallotment option, to help fund its pending acquisition of Jetro Restaurant Depot, even as it reaffirmed a fiscal 2027 outlook calling for 6% to 7% net sales growth.

COMMODITIES & RATES

TOP STORIES: US

Anthropic's Amodei calls for slowing AI development, triggering a global tech selloff. Dario Amodei proposed a three-step plan starting with embedded third-party evaluators to verify AI companies' safety practices, warning that within six to twelve months a sufficiently capable but misaligned AI system could take over the internet and cause hundreds of billions of dollars in damage. He stopped short of calling for a full halt, and Sam Altman echoed that pacing does "not mean stopping."

AI infrastructure stocks slump while cybersecurity names rally on slowdown calls. Chipmakers and server vendors including Micron (NASDAQ:MU), Intel (NASDAQ:INTC), Marvell, Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT), Nvidia, and Hewlett Packard Enterprise all fell, while cybersecurity names such as Palo Alto Networks, CrowdStrike, Okta (NASDAQ:OKTA), Zscaler (NASDAQ:ZS), Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS), and Netskope (NASDAQ:NTSK) posted double-digit gains on expectations of higher AI-related security spending.

Bank of America shares tumble after CEO warns of investment banking fee decline. CEO Brian Moynihan said investment banking revenue is likely to fall to between $1.6 billion and $1.8 billion this quarter, down from $2 billion a year earlier, while sales and trading revenue should be roughly flat.

Trump calls AI safety concerns a "sick conspiracy," defends unfettered growth. President Trump said on Truth Social that the "only control or guardrails that AI needs is a STRONG AND SMART (High IQ!) PRESIDENT," dismissing the industry's safety warnings as a "hoax" and insisting the US must maintain its AI lead over China.

Treasury sanctions Russia's VTB Bank over alleged Iran sanctions evasion. The move follows Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent's warning last week that a large bank would be sanctioned to mark September 11, and targets VTB, Russia's second-largest lender, over offices it opened in Iran and financial channels built to move money between Moscow and Tehran.

Also today: Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) published a provisional AI code of conduct restricting how its models can behave; Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) released iOS 27 with a redesigned Siri AI ahead of this week's iPhone launch; Interior Secretary Burgum said an oil export ban would not lower fuel prices; Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT) won more than $1.3 billion in new defense contracts; Musk's X Corp settled its antitrust claims against Apple while its case against OpenAI continues; Eli Lilly (NYSE:LLY) said its oral obesity pill has captured more than 30% of new US patients, while rival Novo Nordisk (NYSE:NVO) announced it is rebranding to "Novo" and overhauling its corporate culture ahead of a September 21 strategy day; and ADARx Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ADRX) filed for a Nasdaq IPO.

TOP STORIES: GLOBAL

AI-linked stocks plunge worldwide following industry leaders' safety warnings. The selloff hit semiconductor names hardest, with the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index falling 5.2% and Nvidia, AMD, and Micron all declining. Europe's tech sector fell 2.2%, led by a 6% drop in ASML (NASDAQ:ASML), while Asia saw SoftBank fall more than 10% and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (NYSE:TSM) and SK Hynix (NASDAQ:SKHY) both retreat. China's state-backed Global Times called Amodei's essay a "Cold War playbook" intended to curb the country's technological development, even as the US and China are expected to hold AI safety talks this month as part of broader bilateral discussions.

China's Foreign Ministry dismisses AI slowdown calls as "fear mongering."Spokesperson Guo Jiakun said fear mongering, confrontation, and competition would only disrupt global AI governance, responding to calls from Amodei, Altman, and Elon Musk to slow the pace of development. China's Minister of State Security separately called for accelerating the country's AI security risk framework, describing the field as the "main battleground for global technological competition." At the BRICS summit in New Delhi over the weekend, President Xi Jinping said China would help lead AI collaboration among developing nations, while Georgetown's Helen Toner said China's best models remain roughly six to nine months behind the US frontier, a gap that could narrow if American developers slow down.

Trump claims Ukraine and Russia agreed to halt strikes on energy infrastructure. In a Truth Social post, Trump said Ukraine and Russia had each agreed not to hit the other's energy targets, and separately claimed rising global diesel prices are driven mainly by the Russia-Ukraine war rather than the conflict with Iran. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on X that Ukraine would halt strikes on Russian energy infrastructure if Russia reciprocates, but that Kyiv is "not convinced that Russia is willing to abide by any agreement."

French labor strike takes 6.5 gigawatts of power offline. A strike across France's electricity sector, prompted by a proposed reduction in employee benefits including discounted electricity, knocked seven nuclear reactors and some gas and hydroelectric capacity offline overnight. France generates roughly 70% of its electricity from nuclear power and is a major exporter to neighboring countries, meaning the disruption, expected to persist through Tuesday, could add further pressure to already elevated European power prices.

MANAGEMENT & FED SPEAK

Sam Altman, CEO, OpenAI, on pacing AI development:

Altman said in a post on X that pacing does not mean stopping. "Progress has been rapid and will continue to be. But it should be slower than it otherwise could be; interventions like safety cases and monitoring have significant costs."

Mustafa Suleyman, Head of Microsoft AI, on the company's provisional AI code of conduct:

Suleyman said "self-pacing is a good thing, and we support ideas like embedded evaluators as long as they are truly third-party and represent a broad range of backgrounds and perspectives." He added that the company heard feedback that people wanted "even more explicit commitment to AI always working in service of people and not trying to replace them."

Mike Doustdar, CEO, Novo Nordisk, on the company's rebrand:

Doustdar told CNBC that "there's no secret that over the last four or five years, the external environment and what has happened to Novo Nordisk has really made us reflect how we need to readjust and rethink about the next decade to come." He added that "our operating environment phenomenally changed compared to just 10 years ago."

CORPORATE ACTIONS & EARNINGS CALENDAR

Top Ex-Dividend Companies for Tuesday, September 15:

Upcoming Earnings (Tuesday, Sept 15):

That's the wrap for today. The Federal Reserve's policy decision later this week is the next major catalyst, with markets pricing in a high probability of a rate hike after a run of hot inflation data.