Nasdaq 100 Falls 2% as Chipmakers Sell Off Again: Markets Wrap
(Bloomberg) — A rotation that has seen investors bail from richly priced technology names in favor of more economically sensitive industries resumed, dragging down the S&P 500 while lifting the majority of its companies.
The group of chipmakers that had powered the run from war-driven lows came under renewed volatility, erasing a rally to sink 4%. The Nasdaq 100 fell 2%. Despite the weakness in tech, over 300 shares in the US equity benchmark rose. Oil fell below $90 amid hopes the US and Iran are getting closer to a deal to end their conflict. That helped eased concerns about inflation, driving bond yields lower.
Heightened swings in giant semiconductor firms came on the heels of an advance that put the industry’s stocks on track for their best year since 1999. While those companies continue to benefit from the flood of cash being spent on artificial intelligence, calls for consolidation have emerged after such a powerful surge.
“As much as we love to see tech’s leadership, it would be constructive to see this rally broaden out to other sectors,” said Bret Kenwell at eToro. “When leadership is concentrated in one corner of tech, the market’s foundation gets a little wobblier.”
The recent volatility in high-profile tech shares is giving investors a taste of how quickly the tide may turn for the stock market’s biggest winners should sentiment flip.
“While the low may not be in, this looks more like a healthy and much-needed reset than a complete break in the semiconductor trade,” Kenwell noted.
“We remain buyers on the dips,” said Robert Edwards at Edwards Asset Management. “Sharp pullbacks have been met with aggressive buying because investors, despite the noise, know that strong fundamentals, including strong revenue and earnings growth, remain in place.”
US stocks have further to run as corporate earnings growth underpins sentiment despite some signals suggesting equities may have risen too far, JPMorgan Asset Management’s Jack Caffrey said.
“This is really an earnings-driven story,” he said Tuesday on Bloomberg Television’s Surveillance. “I am still constructive on this equity market.”
On the geopolitical front, President Donald Trump renewed his claims of momentum toward ending the conflict with Iran, after brokering a halt to hostilities between Israel and the Islamic Republic and easing tensions that had threatened to derail broader peace talks.
“We’re in the final throes of what will be a very, very good deal,” Trump told reporters in New York. “We could have at least an idea one or two days from now.”
Corporate Highlights:
Apple Inc. said it isn’t able to launch Siri AI, its redesigned digital assistant, on iPhones, Apple Watches or iPads in the European Union, marking the company’s latest standoff with the continent’s antitrust watchdog. Jelly and coffee maker JM Smucker Co. posted fourth-quarter profits that beat Wall Street expectations as higher prices helped boost the packaged food company. Stellantis NV is recalling more than 1 million Jeep vehicles in the US over an electrical issue that could result in a fire, saying that owners should park outside and away from other cars until the problem is fixed. GSK Plc agreed to buy Nuvalent Inc. for $10.6 billion, securing a US biotech firm developing treatments for lung cancer as part of the British pharmaceutical company’s effort to rebuild its oncology franchise. Vail Resorts Inc. cut its net income guidance for the full year, attributing the reduction to “historically challenging” weather conditions in the western US. Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
The S&P 500 fell 1.2% as of 11:31 a.m. New York time The Nasdaq 100 fell 2.1% The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.7% The Stoxx Europe 600 fell 0.5% The MSCI World Index fell 0.9% Currencies
The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.1% The euro rose 0.2% to $1.1556 The British pound rose 0.3% to $1.3383 The Japanese yen was little changed at 160.26 per dollar Cryptocurrencies
Bitcoin fell 3.5% to $61,269.23 Ether fell 3% to $1,639.2 Bonds
The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined one basis point to 4.55% Germany’s 10-year yield was little changed at 3.06% Britain’s 10-year yield declined three basis points to 4.92% The yield on 2-year Treasuries declined two basis points to 4.14% The yield on 30-year Treasuries was little changed at 5.03% Commodities
West Texas Intermediate crude fell 4% to $87.69 a barrel Spot gold fell 1.3% to $4,273.89 an ounce ©2026 Bloomberg L.P.
