Shares of technology companies tumbled as traders fled the sector due to doubts about the sustainability of the artificial-intelligence boom.
One strategist said the stock market would divine the end of an AI-driven semiconductor bonanza before it showed up in economic or earnings data.
"At some point anything that mankind can build can be overbuilt," said Eric Marshall, president of Dallas mutual fund Hodges Capital. "It usually is -- especially when money is involved." Still, Marshall said, there was no way of knowing whether Tuesday's selloff would be remembered as the top of the market.
The PHLX "SOX" Semiconductor Sector Index, which has become a barometer of investor sentiment on AI, fell by more than 8%.
Micron, a maker of memory chips, fell by more than 13%, its biggest fall since 2025, but remains up more than threefold for the year to date.
