US stock indices retreated on Tuesday amid losses for the heavyweight chip sector and fresh deterioration in the macroeconomic backdrop.
The S&P 500 fell 0.7%, the Nasdaq 100 tanked 2.7%, while the Dow pulled back from a record high reached in morning exchanges.
Memory producers sank even though Samsung posted a 19-fold surge in profit last quarter, as markets grow increasingly skeptical on whether AI hyperscalers can justify elevated levels of capital expenditure on infrastructure.
Micron, Sandisk, and Applied Materials lost between 8%-10%.
Consistently, SpaceX dropped 6% amid its inclusion in the Nasdaq 100.
On top of that, Nvidia fell 1.5% and AMD slid 8% on reports that China's Deepseek is developing its own AI chip.
In turn, broader sectors were pressured by higher bond yields after strikes on tankers in the Strait of Hormuz rekindled worries of energy inflation.
Caterpillar, Deere, and GE Vernovia lost between 5% and 10%.