S&P 500 futures slipped on Tuesday after Samsung’s second-quarter results triggered renewed selling across chip stocks. The pullback followed a record-setting Monday that had lifted the Dow above 53,000, and it landed as a gauge of tech volatility climbed to its highest reading against the S&P 500 since 2002.
S&P 500 futures pulled back on Tuesday as a fresh wave of selling hit semiconductor stocks, cooling a rally that had carried Wall Street to records a day earlier. Contracts on the S&P 500 fell 0.2%, while Nasdaq 100 futures dropped 1% and Dow Jones Industrial Average futures rose 0.2%.
Samsung’s profit surge unsettles chip trade
The trigger was Samsung. The company reported that Q2 operating profit rose 19-fold, helped by surging demand for artificial intelligence, yet concerns about its AI spending plans and future demand spooked investors and spread selling across the semiconductor sector. Samsung stock plunged over 11% on Tuesday morning before finishing down 6.9%, dragging rival SK Hynix and other chip names lower with it.
According to Reuters, investors wiped more than $80 billion off Samsung’s market value on concerns over how long the AI bonanza will last. The company estimated April-June operating profit at 89.4 trillion won ($58.44 billion), beating an LSEG SmartEstimate of 87.3 trillion won.
Tech volatility climbs against the S&P 500
The retreat came after Monday’s rally lifted the Dow to a record high above 53,000, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq also gaining on renewed faith in the AI trade following June’s chip sell-off. That optimism now sits alongside rising anxiety over turbulence in the group.
The Cboe NDX Volatility Index, a gauge tied to the Nasdaq 100, has climbed steadily this year and is now near 27 — its highest level since 2002 relative to the Cboe VIX Index, which measures expected price swings for the broader S&P 500.
Meanwhile, oil prices rose. Brent crude futures climbed above $72 per barrel following reports of Iranian attacks on commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz.
Sources: Yahoo Finance, Bloomberg
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