Semiconductor Index Falls Over 5% as AI Spending Concerns Outweigh Oil Price Drop

Chip stocks plunge dragging Nasdaq lower despite oil price drop; semiconductor index falls over 5% amid AI capex fears and Chinese tech advances.

Woofun AI reports that the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index fell by over 5%, dragging the Nasdaq down 0.18% despite a broader market boost from an 8% drop in WTI crude oil. The selloff was triggered by news of Chinese mass production of domestic DUV lithography equipment and renewed concerns over AI infrastructure financing, highlighted by Nvidia’s $500 billion partnership with SK Group and $250 billion financial guarantee for OpenAI.

ASML dropped 5.80%, AMD fell 5.17%, and Nvidia declined 4.99%. Storage stocks also weakened, with SanDisk plunging 11.02% and SK Hynix falling 7.47%, following Changxin Technology’s 466% surge on its listing debut. Optical communication shares lagged, with Lumentum down 6.69% and Coherent falling 3.93%.