The three major US stock indices managed to claw their way into the green during the final hour of trading on July 13, even as semiconductor stocks were having one of their worst days in weeks.
SK Hynix, South Korea’s memory chip giant, saw its shares fall sharply during Asian trading hours, and the damage quickly rippled across the Pacific. US chip heavyweights including Nvidia, Broadcom, AMD, Micron, and Qualcomm all saw premarket declines of up to 6%.
The chip wreck and the recovery
Semiconductor stocks have been a volatile ride throughout 2026. The sector already endured a brutal stretch in June when more than $1 trillion in market value evaporated from chip stocks during a broader selloff.
The Dow, S&P 500, and Nasdaq all posted gains during that final trading hour, suggesting that investors found enough strength in other sectors to offset the semiconductor drag.
