Alphabet and other tech stocks dragged down the entire market: the Nasdaq index fell 1.5%

All four major U.S. stock indices closed lower on July 16. Chipmaker stocks were once again among the weakest performers following earnings reports from TSMC and ASML, two companies critical to the sector. In addition, shares of Alphabet, the parent company of Google, fell 4.4% following a Bloomberg report that the release of a new artificial intelligence model was being delayed. The price of Brent crude oil declined despite the ongoing tit-for-tat exchanges between the U.S. and Iran.

— The S&P 500 broad-market index fell 0.51% on July 16.

— The Dow Jones Industrial Average, a "blue-chip" index, fell 0.2% on Thursday.

— The Nasdaq Composite technology sector index fell 1.47%.

— The Russell 2000 Small- and Mid-Cap Index fell by just 0.06% over the course of the day.

— Brent crude oil futures fell 0.7% to $84.4 per barrel. WTI crude oil futures fell 0.6% to $79.1 per barrel.

— The dollar strengthened by 0.26% against a basket of other world currencies.

— Gold prices fell 2%, dropping to $3,980 per ounce.

Shares of chipmakers fell after the industry’s largest player, Taiwan’s TSMC, raised its capital expenditure forecast, overshadowing its better-than-expected second-quarter results, according to CNBC. In Europe, chip-making equipment manufacturer ASML also reported better-than-expected results and noted that several of its customers had increased their investment plans for 2026.

As a result, the VanEck Semiconductor ETF closed the day down 3.7%. Shares of Arm, Micron, AMD, and Broadcom fell by more than 5%, while U.S.-traded shares of South Korea’s SK Hynix plummeted 13.7%.

Alphabet’s stock fell more than 4% following a Bloomberg report that Google is several months behind schedule in releasing its new cutting-edge artificial intelligence model, Gemini 3.5 Pro. The company is trying to improve its capabilities, particularly in writing code, according to the agency’s sources.

Oil prices fell slightly, despite ongoing U.S. strikes against Iran and Tehran’s retaliatory attacks on U.S. bases in neighboring countries. Eyewitnesses reported hearing explosions in Dubai on Thursday, but the emirate’s official media office dismissed the reports of explosions as false. Oil prices remain higher than at the start of the week, heightening concerns about future inflationary pressures that could force the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates by the end of 2026, according to Bloomberg.

This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor