US stocks hit the skids; semis fall by most since 2020
The S&P 500 was down 2.1% on Tuesday, its largest daily drop since the global market rout on August 5. The tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 slid 3.2%, while Russell 2000 lost 3.1%.
The first trading day after Labor Day, like the past seven years, was a negative one. It kicked off a month that has historically been weaker than the others. But there was no clear reason to explain the magnitude of the selloff.
Most S&P 500 sector ETFs tumbled, and tech had the sharpest loss of 4.6%. Magnificent Seven stocks all declined. Nvidia lost 9.5%, along with other chip stocks like AMD and Intel. The VanEck Semiconductor ETF retreated 7.5%, its worst daily showing since 2020.
Consumer staples and real estate are the only 2 sector ETFs that advanced.
Vistra, a utility company that was the second best performing S&P 500 stock so far this year, lost as much as 11.3% on Tuesday, turning into the worst performer of the day.
Oil had its worst day of the year, with West Texas Intermediate futures falling more than 4% to erase their year-to-date gains.
OPEC+ is reportedly planning to proceed with increasing oil production in October, while manufacturing in China slumped to six-month low in August, stoking fears that import demand will keep going down.
