Wall Street Today: Nasdaq sinks over 2% as chip stocks slide on new US export curbs

US stock markets fell sharply on Wednesday, led by steep declines in chip stocks, after new export restrictions on artificial intelligence chips to China rattled investors.

Chipmakers in Deep Red

Nvidia shares plunged 7.42% after the AI-chip giant warned of $5.5 billion in charges from the new US export curbs. AMD followed with a 6.84% drop, while Micron Technology slipped 1.4%, Broadcom fell 2.80%, and Intel lost 2.95%.

The US Commerce Department announced new licensing norms on Tuesday for the export of Nvidia's H20 and AMD's MI308 AI chips to China. AMD also flagged potential charges of up to $800 million due to the restrictions.

The move is seen as part of Washington’s strategy to limit China’s access to cutting-edge semiconductor technology.

Market Snapshot

At 12:08 PM EDT:

Dow Jones fell 0.52%

S&P 500 dropped 1.24%

Nasdaq Composite tumbled 2.13%

At the opening bell:

Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 189.5 points (0.47%) to 40,179.49

S&P 500 slipped 60.9 points (1.13%) to 5,335.75

Nasdaq Composite fell 323.5 points (1.92%) to 16,499.69

Tech and Trade Tensions

Adding to market jitters, President Donald Trump announced probes into new tariffs on critical mineral imports, and reviews on pharmaceutical and chip imports. The US-China trade tensions, already strained, took another hit.

Bond Market

The yield on the 10-year US Treasury dipped to 4.33% from 4.35% late Tuesday, reflecting investors’ shift towards safe-haven assets.

Other Movers

United Airlines gained 2.5% after better-than-expected Q1 profits

Tesla fell 1.5% after reports of tariff-related supply chain disruptions

Tech heavyweights also fell:

Apple down 2.22%

Microsoft down 1.93%

Meta down 2.35%

Google down 1.05%

Boeing slipped 0.15%.

Gold Hits Record

Gold prices rallied as the US dollar weakened amid escalating trade war fears.

Spot gold jumped 2.6% to $3,310.82 an ounce, after hitting a record $3,317.90

US gold futures rose 2.7% to $3,326.40

Other metals:

Silver gained 2.2% to $33.01

Platinum edged up 0.5% to $963.76

Palladium slipped 0.4% to $968.04

Crude Oil Climbs

Oil prices rose on news that Iraq will cut production in April.

Brent crude gained 70 cents (1.08%) to $65.37 a barrel

US WTI crude advanced 70 cents (1.14%) to $62.03