Mid-afternoon
The Nasdaq Composite traded up 0.12% on Tuesday, as easing oil prices and declining bond yields steady nerves in tech.
It was a shaky start. Chip stocks slid at the open, rattled by the 32% debut-day collapse of Elice, a South Korean data centre operator whose IPO had been 400 times oversubscribed. The stumble revived concerns about the health of the AI trade.
But buyers stepped in through the morning as oil retreated to around $108 a barrel and the macro picture brightened. Chipmakers have clawed back their losses and the broader market followed.
Big Tech itself is largely sitting out the rally. Gains are being led by small caps and healthcare, with three in every four S&P 500 stocks advancing, the broadest participation since June.
Attention now shifts to earnings. Netflix reports after the bell. Meta and Tesla follow on Wednesday.
Early call: Bear trap sprung
The Nasdaq Composite erased an early decline to trade up 0.46% on Tuesday, with the broader market in better shape as earnings season shifted focus away from AI financing fears.
The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index was the one to watch. The SOX dipped below Friday's close early, briefly surrendering Monday's bounce from an eight-session losing streak.
Then buyers arrived right at the summer floor near 11,000. Chart watchers will recognise the setup: a dip below support that snaps back quickly is a bear trap, catching short sellers on the wrong side.
Some are calling last week's sell-off as a positioning-driven hiccup on the fringes of the AI trade. The credit market is less relaxed. The cost of insuring Oracle's debt is at its highest since at least 2021.
The overnight trigger for the early weakness was Elice, the South Korean data centre operator, which plunged 32% on its Seoul debut. That kept nerves about AI infrastructure financing simmering.
Netflix reports after the bell. Meta and Tesla follow Wednesday.
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