Nasdaq Drops Nearly 400 Points as Chip Stocks Slide

The Nasdaq Composite fell 399 points to 25,766.67 by 10:48 a.m. Eastern on Tuesday, June 23. The S&P 500 was at 7,413.96, down 58.83 points, and the NYSE Composite stood at 23,504.95, off 91.27 points. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 29.77 points to 51,742.48.

A selloff in semiconductor stocks drove the decline. The iShares Semiconductor ETF lost about 6% as several large chipmakers slipped. Micron shares dropped roughly 8% to 11% intraday, trading near $1,073 to $1,108 after closing Monday at $1,211.38. Intel fell about 7% to 8%, AMD declined about 6%, and Nvidia dropped around 3%. Traders pointed to sharp declines in Asian memory chip names and cautious positioning ahead of Micron’s fiscal third-quarter report due Wednesday, June 24.

Federal Reserve policy signals remained a key market input. At the June 17 Federal Open Market Committee meeting, policymakers left the target federal funds rate at 3.50% to 3.75% but raised the median year-end 2026 projection to 3.8% from 3.4% in March. Fed Chair Kevin Warsh removed language that had pointed toward easier policy and did not provide traditional forward guidance, and officials reiterated a commitment to return inflation to the 2% target.

Digital assets and precious metals also weakened during the session. Bitcoin traded around the low $62,000s with intraday losses, while Ethereum was near $1,661 and down more than 5% over 24 hours. Gold fell about 1.4% toward $4,145 an ounce and silver dropped more than 4% toward $62, with market participants citing profit-taking, a firmer dollar and higher yields.

SpaceX, listed under the ticker SPCX after its IPO earlier this month, showed relative strength compared with chip-focused names. The company priced its offering at $135, raised roughly $75 billion and entered the market with an initial valuation above $1.75 trillion. The stock rose above $160 intraday after the debut before retreating amid investor concern over dilution from a planned $60 billion all-stock acquisition of AI coding startup Cursor.

Diplomatic developments in the Middle East provided partial relief to markets. On June 17, the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding was signed, launching a 60-day diplomatic process covering hostilities, Lebanon and Hezbollah, the Strait of Hormuz, oil sanctions and reconstruction. Technical talks in Switzerland produced what Vice President J.D. Vance called “a very, very good day.” Iran agreed to allow International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors to return and helped establish a de-confliction cell to monitor the Lebanon ceasefire. Iranian President Pezeshkian traveled to Pakistan for follow-up talks with mediators from Qatar and Pakistan.

Market participants are watching two near-term events: Micron’s June 24 earnings report for information on memory demand and further market reaction to the Fed’s policy outlook.