U.S. stocks finished mixed on the 8th local time amid weakness in artificial intelligence (AI) technology stocks.

On this day, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 51.77 points, or 0.10%, at 51,231.64.

The S&P 500 index fell 36.41 points, or 0.47%, to 7,765.36, while the Nasdaq Composite index dropped 345.35 points, or 1.25%, to 27,193.34.

Amid market pressure from the possibility of additional U.S. strikes against Iran and rising international oil prices, reports emerged that ChatGPT developer OpenAI's annualized revenue fell short of previously known levels, causing AI-related tech stocks to decline across the board.

The Financial Times (FT) reported on the same day that OpenAI's annualized revenue at the end of September stood at approximately 50 billion dollars, which is 20 billion dollars less than the 70 billion dollars previously presented to investors.

While this was reportedly due to differences in revenue calculation methods, it fueled concerns over the high valuations and growth expectations of AI companies.

Consequently, top AI chipmaker Nvidia tumbled 2.94%, alongside drops in major semiconductor stocks such as Broadcom (-4.35%), Micron Technology (-4.79%), AMD (-3.90%), and SK Hynix ADR (-4.35%), dragging down the Nasdaq index.

A surge in international oil prices driven by escalating geopolitical tensions in the Middle East also dampened investor sentiment.

Earlier, U.S. internet media outlet Axios reported that the U.S. Department of Defense instructed the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), which oversees the Middle East, a few days ago to prepare for the resumption of large-scale military operations against Iran.

This caused West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude for November delivery to spike during the session, showing gains of over 5%.

However, international oil price gains were trimmed after President Trump stated on social media platform Truth Social, "We are having productive discussions with Iran," adding, "We will not attack Iran at any point prior to the midterm elections taking place in the United States on November 3."

The downside was also limited as U.S. Treasury yields, which rose during the session, turned downward in the afternoon.

The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note rose to 5.35% in early trading, but later declined to finish the session lower than the previous day at 5.23%.

Following the 10-year note auction the previous day, robust demand was confirmed in a 22-billion-dollar 30-year Treasury bond auction on this day, providing relief to the bond market.

Caution regarding further interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve (Fed) persisted.

Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller stated, "If economic indicators come in as expected, additional rate hikes will be necessary to return inflation more swiftly to the 2% target."

However, he explained that there is no need to raise rates consecutively and that flexibility can be maintained regarding the timing of hikes.

Alberto Musalem, President of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, also expressed the view at a conference on the same day that additional rate hikes will be needed over the next 6 to 9 months to lower inflation to the target level.

(Photo: AP, Yonhap News)