A trader works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) at the opening bell in New York City, on April 16, 2025.
Charly Triballeau | Afp | Getty Images
The S&P 500 slid on Wednesday as investors assessed a stark warning from Nvidia that pressured global tech.
The broad index dropped 0.6%, while the Nasdaq Composite pulled back 1.5%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average flickered around flat, buoyed by a post-earnings rally in Travelers Companies.
Shares of Nvidia lost 6% after the chip giant said it will post a $5.5 billion quarterly charge related to exporting its H20 graphics processing units to China and other nations. The company said in a filing that the U.S. government required a license to send chips from the U.S. to China.
Other chipmakers followed Nvidia lower, with the VanEck Semiconductor ETF (SMH) down nearly 4%. AMD slid more than 6%, while Micron Technology slid 3%. Adding to the broader chip decline was a disappointing earnings report from ASML, with U.S.-listed shares losing more than 5%.
Big tech also felt pressure, dragging CNBC’s Magnificent Seven Index more than 2% into the red. Meta Platforms slid 2%, while Microsoft and Tesla each declined by more than 1%.
“The S&P 500 is just much more of a technology-driven index than it has been in the past,” said Zachary Hill, head of portfolio management at Horizon Investments. “It has a disproportionate impact, both to the upside and downside, as we’ve seen. We saw it last week, and now we’re seeing it reverse a little bit today.”
Wednesday’s action comes as investors try to navigate rising global trade tensions.
The U.S. has announced tariffs on many countries, including China. Some of those levies were put on hold for 90 days last week, though duties on Chinese imports were not included in that halt. Over the weekend, President Donald Trump announced an exemption on tariffs against smartphone and PC imports, though he later hinted that this was only temporary.
Since Trump administration first announced its “reciprocal” tariffs on April 2, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite have each slipped around 6%. The Dow has lost about 5%.
