US stocks were mixed Wednesday, with the Nasdaq dropping sharply as techs came under dual pressure from worries about US export curbs on China and Donald Trump's stance on Taiwan. The blue-chip Dow, meanwhile, quietly closed at another record high.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) sank more than 2.7%, marking the index's worst single-day decline since December 2022. The S&P 500 (^GSPC) fell more than 1.3%. Meanwhile, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) rose about 0.6% to close at 41,198, the index's first close above 41,000 on record.
United Healthcare (UNH) shares rose more than 4%, extending a rally from Tuesday, while Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) popped more than 3% to lead the Dow higher.
Tech stocks pulled back as concerns about risks to bigger names eclipse the high hopes for interest-rate cuts that had fueled a rally in recent days. Those worries weighed on heavyweights whose AI-fueled gains have helped propel the S&P 500 to fresh record highs this year, with chipmaker Nvidia (NVDA) down more than 6%.
The Biden administration has told allies it's looking at imposing tougher restrictions on companies still making advanced chip technology available to China despite existing export curbs, Bloomberg reported. Shares of ASML (ASML, ASML.AS), cited as a potential target, dropped over 12% even after the Dutch chip gear maker posted solid quarterly earnings.
Meanwhile, the Republican nominee Trump questioned US defense support for Taiwan in a Bloomberg interview,suggesting the island claimed by China should pay for US protection. Chipmaker TSMC's (TSM) shares fell nearly 8%.
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