Nasdaq Falls 5.3% Into Correction Territory as Chip Stocks Lead a Broad Selloff

The tape, late morning. Every major U.S. index is lower, and the losses are steep. As of about 11:05 a.m. ET, the Nasdaq Composite stood at 24,366.28, down 1,370.24 points or 5.3%. The S&P 500 was at 7,419.52, down 269.10 points or 3.5%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was at 52,117.55, down 1,238.57 points or 2.3%. The Nasdaq-100 fell as much as 5.7% intraday, small caps were down roughly 3%, and the Cboe Volatility Index (VIX) stood at 20.62 at 10:01 a.m., up 24% on the day. These are intraday figures and still moving; a midday wrap records where the market is, not where it closes.

The correction line. The Nasdaq closed at a record 27,599.89 on October 6. At this morning's levels the index sits about 11.7% below that record — past the 10% decline that defines a correction, its second of the year, according to Reuters. Whether the correction is confirmed depends on the close. The setup did not arrive today: the Nasdaq had already shed more than $2.5 trillion in market value during October, Reuters reports, as sentiment toward AI-linked stocks deteriorated.

Where the damage is. This is a chip and AI-infrastructure selloff first, and a broad market decline second. Qualcomm fell about 13% after its handset chip sales missed estimates — handset revenue of $5.137 billion, down 26% year over year, on weak smartphone demand and lower Apple-related revenue. Nvidia, Broadcom and Oracle were each down about 9% late morning, the iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX) was down 11%, and data-center names fell further: CoreWeave down 14%, Nebius 17% and Iren 19%. AMD lost 13.9% and Micron 12.4% in the 10:30 a.m. read. Tesla and SpaceX were each down about 10%. Inside the S&P 500, information technology was the worst sector at −5.31% — and consumer staples, the defensive corner, was the best at +1.29%. One sector in green does not soften the headline numbers, but it does describe the day accurately: investors are repricing the AI buildout, not exiting equities altogether.

Why, per the reporting. Reuters ties the selloff to three threads. First, the Democratic sweep of Congress has raised the prospect of greater scrutiny of AI infrastructure — data-center expansion, energy use and the pace of the buildout. Second, last month's results from Alphabet and Meta failed to reassure investors about how quickly heavy AI spending turns into profit, and big technology companies are tapping debt markets to fund data centers and chips. Third, Qualcomm's miss gave the morning a specific catalyst. A portfolio manager quoted by Reuters described investors pausing as they digest the election result and its policy implications — a repricing, with the direction of the next move still open.

The other side of the ledger. An objective wrap also records what is not happening. Breadth underlines how concentrated the damage is: in its morning reporting, the Associated Press noted a slight majority of S&P 500 stocks were actually higher even as the index fell — the index-level losses are being carried by the largest technology names. The bond market is not confirming panic: the 10-year Treasury yield was little changed near 4.88%. The VIX, at just above 20, is elevated but below the 25–30 range that has marked genuine stress in recent selloffs. The morning's economic data pointed the other way from the tape: initial jobless claims fell to 189,000, the fewest since mid-July, per the Labor Department. And the starting point matters — on Wednesday the Dow gained 1,569 points, or 3.0%, its best day since April 2025, after the midterm results landed. Thursday morning gives back a large part of one extraordinary session; it does not, by itself, settle what the new Congress means for the AI trade.

What decides the rest of the day. The close, first: whether the Nasdaq confirms the correction and whether the defensive bid in staples holds. Then the scheduled tests — Airbnb and Cloudflare report after the close tonight (see our earnings preview), and the October jobs report lands Friday at 8:30 a.m. ET from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Index figures above are intraday quotes at the times stated. This is a news summary, not investment advice.