The Nasdaq fell 2%, with volatility hitting a two-year high: a look back at the day's sell-off in the tech sector

The Nasdaq Composite “tech” index fell by more than 2% at the close of trading on June 23. Three other major indices also declined: even the Dow Jones was unable to hold onto its slight gains. The sell-off of tech giants’ stocks heightened investors’ fears that the hype surrounding artificial intelligence may have gone too far, according to Bloomberg. The decline in SK Hynix’s share price on the South Korean market dragged down shares of U.S. memory manufacturers and chipmakers in general. Treasury bonds rose in price as the dollar strengthened to a one-year high.

— The Nasdaq Composite technology sector index plummeted 2.22% over the course of the day. For the sixth consecutive day, it moved by more than 1% (up or down): this is the index’s longest streak of volatility since August 8, 2024, Barron’s reports, citing data from Dow Jones Market Data. Moreover, the index has fallen by 1% or more on four of the last five days—a pattern not seen since February 27, 2025, the publication notes.

— The S&P 500 broad-market index fell 1.44% on June 23.

— The Dow Jones Industrial Average, a "blue-chip" index, fell 0.09% on Tuesday. During the day, the Dow recovered its losses and even rose, but by the close, it was unable to stay in positive territory.

— The Russell 2000 Small- and Mid-Cap Index fell by nearly 1%.

— The VIX volatility index closed at 19.6 points, up 13% for the day. Twenty points is considered a psychological threshold indicating high market volatility.

— Brent crude oil futures fell by about 1%, to $77.2 per barrel. The price of WTI fell by the same amount—to $73.2 per barrel. This is the lowest oil price since March 2—the first trading day after the start of the war between the U.S. and Iran.

— The dollar strengthened by 0.38% against a basket of other world currencies. This is the highest level in more than a year.

— The price of gold fell 2% to $4,100 per ounce.

— Bitcoin fell 3% to $62,300.

The sell-off in the technology sector, which began on Monday, gained momentum over the past 24 hours: Asian markets slumped sharply following a drop in shares of memory chip manufacturers, according to CNBC. SK Hynix shares in South Korea plummeted 12%, while Samsung Electronics shares fell nearly 10%. Following this, shares of U.S. chipmakers also fell sharply during trading on June 23: Micron Technology and SanDisk shares dropped 13%, Seagate Technology shares fell 5%, and Western Digital shares declined 8.5%. The Roundhill Memory ETF, which tracks stocks in the sector, plummeted by 14.3%.

Intel and AMD shares fell 6%, Qualcomm shares fell 8%, Broadcom shares fell 3%, and Nvidia shares fell 4.1%. The State Street Technology Select Sector SPDR ETF fell 4%, and the VanEck Semiconductor ETF fell 7%.

Alphabet shares also continued to decline, losing another 1% on Tuesday after falling 5% on June 22. SpaceX shares rose 1% on Tuesday after falling for three consecutive sessions; the company issued $25 million in bonds.

The tech sector’s pullback comes at the end of the first half of the year, which has generally been marked by impressive growth driven by easing geopolitical tensions, strong corporate earnings, and a focus on AI, according to Bloomberg. On the other hand, the tech rally began to falter amid investor doubts about whether the multibillion-dollar spending on AI by hyperscalers would pay off, the agency notes.

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