{"id":59002,"date":"2026-02-23T20:38:17","date_gmt":"2026-02-24T00:38:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/ai-disruption-fears-and-tariff-uncertainty-rock-global-markets-ibm-plunges-13\/59002\/"},"modified":"2026-02-23T20:38:17","modified_gmt":"2026-02-24T00:38:17","slug":"ai-disruption-fears-and-tariff-uncertainty-rock-global-markets-ibm-plunges-13","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/ai-disruption-fears-and-tariff-uncertainty-rock-global-markets-ibm-plunges-13\/59002\/","title":{"rendered":"AI Disruption Fears and Tariff Uncertainty Rock Global Markets; IBM Plunges 13%"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>Key Takeaways<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>International Business Machines Corporation (<a href=\"\/stock\/IBM\">IBM<\/a>) shares plummeted 13%<\/strong>, marking their worst single-day decline since 2000, as <strong>Anthropic\u2019s &quot;Claude Code&quot;<\/strong> raised existential fears regarding the disruption of legacy software modernization.<\/li>\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/stockmarketwatch.com\/metal\/gold-price.aspx\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"4\" title=\"gold price today\">Gold<\/a> (<a href=\"\/stock\/XAUUSD\">XAU\/USD<\/a>) climbed for a fifth consecutive day toward $5,240 an ounce<\/strong>, hitting new heights as investors fled to haven assets amid <strong>Donald <a href=\"https:\/\/thestockmarketwatch.com\/live\/trump-stock-market\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"8\" title=\"Trump\">Trump<\/a>\u2019s<\/strong> renewed tariff threats and persistent <strong>Iran tensions<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>JPMorgan Chase &amp; Co. (<a href=\"\/stock\/JPM\">JPM<\/a>)<\/strong> projected that quarterly trading revenue will <strong>top $10 billion for the first time<\/strong>, driven by extreme market volatility tied to geopolitical shifts and U.S. policy moves.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Japan\u2019s Trade Minister Akazawa<\/strong> held urgent talks with <strong>U.S. Commerce Secretary Lutnick<\/strong>, requesting that Japan receive treatment &quot;no less favorable&quot; than previous agreements under impending U.S. tariff measures.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>AI Disruption and Tech Sector Volatility<\/h2>\n<p>Global markets were jolted by a massive sell-off in <strong>International Business Machines Corporation (<a href=\"\/stock\/IBM\">IBM<\/a>)<\/strong>, which saw its stock price crater <strong>13%<\/strong>. The decline followed an announcement from <strong>Anthropic<\/strong> regarding <strong>Claude Code<\/strong>, a tool capable of modernizing legacy <strong>COBOL systems<\/strong>. This development has intensified investor anxiety that AI tools from firms like <strong>OpenAI<\/strong> and <strong>Alphabet Inc. (<a href=\"\/stock\/GOOGL\">GOOGL<\/a>)<\/strong> could rapidly displace traditional IT service providers.<\/p>\n<p>The tech-heavy <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/stockmarketwatch.com\/markets\/sp500\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"3\" title=\"snp500 today\">S&amp;P 500<\/a><\/strong> slid <strong>1%<\/strong> on Monday as the &quot;AI disruption&quot; narrative shifted from hardware gains to software displacement. <em>Market sentiment remains fragile as investors recalibrate the long-term value of legacy tech giants in an era of autonomous coding.<\/em><\/p>\n<h2>Tariff Uncertainty and Legal Challenges<\/h2>\n<p>Trade policy remains a primary driver of market instability. <strong>FedEx (<a href=\"\/stock\/FDX\">FDX<\/a>)<\/strong> has officially filed a lawsuit in the <strong>U.S. Court of International Trade<\/strong>, seeking a refund of duties paid under tariffs previously imposed by <strong>Donald <a href=\"https:\/\/thestockmarketwatch.com\/live\/trump-stock-market\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"8\" title=\"Trump\">Trump<\/a><\/strong>. This legal action follows a <strong>Supreme Court<\/strong> ruling that invalidated key elements of the tariff program, prompting <strong>Democrats<\/strong> like <strong>Sherrod Brown<\/strong> and <strong>Elizabeth Warren<\/strong> to push for billions in refunds for American households and businesses.<\/p>\n<p>In Asia, the <strong>Japanese government<\/strong> is moving aggressively to protect its export economy. <strong>Trade Minister Akazawa<\/strong> met with <strong>U.S. Commerce Secretary Lutnick<\/strong> on Monday to ensure Japan\u2019s trade status remains stable. Reports also surfaced via <strong>Nikkei<\/strong> that the U.S. and Japan had considered a <strong>joint forex intervention<\/strong> as recently as January to stabilize the yen.<\/p>\n<h2>Financials and Commodities<\/h2>\n<p>Despite the broader market unease, <strong>JPMorgan Chase &amp; Co. (<a href=\"\/stock\/JPM\">JPM<\/a>)<\/strong> is benefiting from the chaos. The bank raised its full-year <strong>Net Interest Income (NII)<\/strong> outlook to approximately <strong>$104.5 billion<\/strong>, noting that geopolitical volatility is driving record-breaking trading volumes. <em>The firm&#39;s ability to capitalize on policy-driven swings highlights a divergence between the struggling tech sector and high-performing financial institutions.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>In the energy and commodities sector, <strong>Gold (<a href=\"\/stock\/XAUUSD\">XAU\/USD<\/a>)<\/strong> remains the preferred hedge, edging higher as <strong>Donald Trump<\/strong> reportedly grows frustrated with limited military options regarding <strong>Iran<\/strong>. Meanwhile, <strong>Woodside Energy (<a href=\"\/stock\/WDS\">WDS<\/a>)<\/strong> shares rose toward a 17-month high after the company hiked its final dividend to <strong>59 US cents<\/strong>, despite a <strong>24% drop in annual profit<\/strong>, buoyed by record production levels.<\/p>\n<h2>Regional Market Performance<\/h2>\n<p>Asian markets showed resilience in early Tuesday trade, attempting to shrug off the weak lead from <strong>Wall Street<\/strong>. The <strong>ASX 200<\/strong> rose <strong>0.2%<\/strong>, while the <strong>Nikkei 225<\/strong> managed a slim <strong>0.1%<\/strong> gain. However, individual Japanese stocks saw wild swings: <strong>Furukawa Electric (<a href=\"\/stock\/5801.T\">FUWAY<\/a>)<\/strong> shares jumped <strong>11.3%<\/strong>, contrasting sharply with a <strong>6.8%<\/strong> drop for <strong>NEC Corporation (<a href=\"\/stock\/6701.T\">NIPNF<\/a>)<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p><em>The divergence in performance suggests that while macro fears are prevalent, stock-specific catalysts\u2014particularly in the infrastructure and electronics sectors\u2014are still driving significant capital flows.<\/em> Australia also successfully sold <strong>A$1.2 billion<\/strong> of 2036 bonds at a yield of <strong>4.6969%<\/strong>, seeing healthy demand with a <strong>2.71x bid-to-cover ratio<\/strong>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Key Takeaways International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) shares plummeted 13%, marking their worst single-day decline since 2000, as Anthropic\u2019s &quot;Claude [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":50383,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center 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