Stock Market Update

[BRIEFING.COM] Today started on a soft note for the semiconductor space amid a Bloomberg report that the Biden administration is looking at curbing sales of advanced AI chips to certain countries, with a focus on Persian Gulf countries. The selling intensified, however, after semiconductor equipment company ASML (ASML 770.68, -101.59, -11.7%) released disappointing Q3 results, reporting only half the orders expected in Q3, according to Bloomberg, and issued disappointing Q4 and FY25 guidance.

The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index, also pressured by NVIDIA (NVDA 130.95, -7.12, -5.3%), is down 4.4%.

The weakness in the semiconductor space is the primary reason for the underperformance of the information technology sector (-1.6%), which would be in even worse shape if not for the strength seen today in Apple (AAPL 235.65, +4.35, +1.9%).

Notwithstanding the losses in the market's most heavily-weighted sector, the broader market continues to hold up remarkably well. The equal-weighted S&P 500 is up 0.2% and the Russell 2000 is up 0.6%.