NEW YORK, New York - U.S. stocks fell sharply on Thursday, ahead of Friday's inflation report which is not expected to weigh on markets.

"CPI is a little bit less important now that we got the good jobs number, because it already allows the Fed to kind of pause for a substantial amount of time," Ross Mayfield, investment strategist at Baird told CNBC Thursday. "If CPI came in hot, you'd have a couple of months of data to kind of get a sense of the trend before the Fed actually has to make a hard call," he said.

S&P 500 Slides
The Standard and Poor's 500 dropped 108.71 points to close at 6,832.76, a decline of 1.57 percent. The broad-based index traded as low as 6,824.04 during the session after touching a recent high of 6,973.22. Volume reached 4.457 billion shares.

Dow Jones Drops More Than 600 Points
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 669.42 points, or 1.34 percent, settling at 49,451.98. The blue-chip index ranged between a session low of 49,420.28 and a high of 50,447.01, with more than 755 million shares changing hands.

Nasdaq Leads Losses
The technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite suffered the steepest decline among the three major US averages, plunging 469.32 points to finish at 22,597.15. The drop represented a loss of 2.03 percent on volume of 6.630 billion shares.

U.S. Dollar Broadly Firmer, Although Yen Outperforms

The U.S. dollar strengthened against most major counterparts on Thursday, though the Japanese yen emerged as a notable outlier, gaining ground even as the greenback found firmer footing elsewhere.

Yen Defies Dollar Strength
Against the Japanese yen, the dollar slipped 0.24 percent to 152.86, marking the yen as one of the few currencies to advance against the resurgent greenback. The move came as Treasury yields steadied, offering the safe-haven currency some relief after recent pressure.

Euro and Sterling Soft
The euro edged lower, with EURUSD trading at 1.1868, down 0.03 percent. Sterling similarly retreated, slipping 0.04 percent to 1.3621, as markets continued to assess the volatility of the Trump administration and its impact on financial markets.

Swiss Franc Firms
The dollar also lost ground against the Swiss franc, falling 0.16 percent to 0.7693.

Loonie, Antipodeans Decline
The Canadian dollar weakened against its U.S. counterpart, with USDCAD rising 0.26 percent to 1.3609. The move came as oil prices—a key driver for the loonie—showed modest softness in afternoon trade.

Commodity-linked currencies were broadly weaker across the board. The Australian dollar fell 0.49 percent to 0.7091, while the New Zealand dollar dropped 0.24 percent to 0.6033, pressured by profit-taking, declining metals prices and cautious sentiment surrounding China's economic outlook.

Global Markets Mixed on Thursday as Tech Surge Lifts Asia, European Caution Persists

Global equity markets delivered a mixed performance on Thursday, with Asian bourses recording sharp gains led by a historic rally in South Korea, while European indices struggled for momentum amid ongoing valuation concerns.

Toronto Market Pummeled
In Canada, the S&P/TSX Composite Index tumbled 788.91 points, or 2.37 percent, to close at 32,465.28. The sell-off in Toronto, the sharpest of the North American benchmarks tracked, unfolded on volume of 359.098 million shares.

UK and Europe Edge Lower
The FTSE 100 closed at 10,402.44, sliding 69.67 points, or 0.67 percent. The index touched a low of 10,391.98 during the session after hitting a previous high of 10,535.76.

Germany's DAX finished nearly flat at 24,852.69, shedding just 3.46 points, a fractional decline of 0.01 percent.

In France Thursday, the CAC 40 bucked the regional trend, rising 27.32 points to settle at 8,340.56—an increase of 0.33 percent.

The pan-European EURO STOXX 50 Index dipped by 24.35 points, or 0.40 percent, closing at 6,011.29, while the broader Euronext 100 Index fell 6.66 points (0.37 percent) to 1,794.73. Belgium's BEL 20 outperformed, adding 31.16 points to finish at 5,626.04, a gain of 0.56 percent.

Asia-Pacific: Seoul Surges
In Asia, the KOSPI Composite Index in South Korea delivered a solid performance, rocketing 167.78 points, or 3.13 percent, to close at 5,522.27. The index marked a sharp increase from the previous close of 5,376.92.

Taiwan's TWSE Capitalization Weighted Stock Index jumped 532.74 points, up 1.61 percent, to finish at 33,605.71, hovering near its session high of 33,707.83.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index, however, lagged its regional peers, dropping 233.84 points (0.86 percent) to 27,032.54.

In Singapore Thursday, the STI Index rose 32.18 points, a gain of 0.65 percent, ending the day at 5,016.76.

Down under, the S&P/ASX 200 added 28.70 points to close at 9,043.50, up 0.32 percent, while the Australian All Ordinaries finished flat at 9,281.80, recording no change. Across the Tasman, New Zealand's S&P/NZX 50 eked out a modest gain of 24.20 points, up 0.18 percent, to 13,531.48.

Japan's Nikkei 225 saw a marginal dip of 10.70 points on Thursday, settling at 57,639.84—a decline of 0.02 percent.

Mainland China
The SSE Composite Index in Shanghai added 5.65 points to close at 4,134.02, a gain of 0.14 percent on heavy volume of 1.397 billion shares.

Other Regional Movers
India's S&P BSE Sensex fell 558.72 points, or 0.66 percent, closing at 83,674.92. In Indonesia on Thursday, the IDX Composite slipped 25.61 points (0.31 percent) to 8,265.35, while Malaysia's FTSE Bursa KLCI declined 5.54 points, or 0.32 percent, ending at 1,750.85.

Middle East and Africa
Israel's TA-125 index advanced 31.22 points, rising 0.75 percent, to 4,167.23. In Egypt, the EGX 30 Price Return Index surged 790.00 points, a robust gain of 1.59 percent, closing at 50,490.20 on volume of 554.357 million.

South Africa's Top 40 USD Net TRI Index climbed 67.05 points, finishing 0.87 percent higher at 7,744.32.

(This report incorporates quotes retrieved with the assistance of artificial intelligence).

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