Nasdaq-100 slides into correction as global chip and memory stocks sell off - NBC News

What the report says

NBC News reported that a sharp global sell-off in chip, memory and artificial intelligence-linked stocks dragged the Nasdaq-100 into correction territory during Tuesday trading, meaning it had fallen at least 10% from its latest record. The index, which includes the largest nonfinancial companies on the Nasdaq, finished the session down 1%. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index also fell into bear-market territory, defined as a drop of 20% or more from a recent high.

The pressure was broad across the sector. In the U.S., Sandisk closed 14% lower, while AMD, Arm Holdings, Micron and Seagate each dropped more than 8%. Dell Technologies, a major supplier of data center servers, fell 8.1%, and Intel lost 5.8%. Selling began earlier in Asian markets, with Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix — key suppliers of memory used in AI data centers — each falling more than 15%. Kioxia dropped 18%, while South Korea’s Kospi extended its decline from a recent peak to more than 30%.

NBC said the latest anxiety followed an unverified report that a Chinese state-backed company had started mass-producing domestic chipmaking tools. The report did not identify the firm, and NBC said it could not confirm it. Even so, shares of major chip-equipment makers, including ASML, Canon and Nikon, declined.

The moves come as investors await earnings from Meta, Amazon, Microsoft and other companies spending heavily on AI infrastructure. NBC noted that Alphabet recently raised its projected capital spending to as much as $205 billion, mostly for data centers. Despite the chip rout, broader U.S. markets rose Tuesday, with the Dow gaining nearly 540 points and Apple briefly topping $5 trillion in market value.