By George Glover

Nvidia stock was dropping on Thursday as investors fretted that the two-week truce between the U.S. and Iran may not hold.

Shares in the chip maker fell 0.6% to $180.92 in premarket trading, having closed 2.2% higher the previous session. Futures tracking the S&P 500 slid 0.4% on Thursday.

Nvidia stock was the market's go-to artificial intelligence pick for years, but it has traded between $165 and $195 for months as investors wonder how long so-called hyperscalers can maintain their aggressive capital spending.

The cease-fire between the U.S. and Iran will likely have to hold for shares to break out of that range, given that the conflict has sapped the market's appetite for risk assets.

The war in the Middle East remains a major worry for investors, given that Tehran still has the capability to block the Strait of Hormuz.

Drivers like the rise of AI agents and the build-out of data centers "continue to remain intact," Baptista Research founder Ishan Majumdar told Barron's.

"Nothing about the cease-fire alters the structural AI demand story... If anything, removing macro volatility allows the market to refocus on those fundamentals," he said.

Like plenty of other stocks, expect Nvidia to suffer if the truce fractures.

Write to George Glover at george.glover@dowjones.com

This content was created by Barron's, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. Barron's is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.

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April 09, 2026 07:29 ET (11:29 GMT)

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