NEW YORK, United States — Tech stocks led a sharp sell-off across global markets on Tuesday, June 23, 2026, as weakness in artificial intelligence-linked shares sent major United States indexes lower after a severe decline in South Korea rattled investors.
The Nasdaq Composite fell 2.21 percent, while the S&P 500 declined 1.44 percent.
The Dow Jones industrial average, which has less exposure to technology stocks, slipped about 0.1 percent.
The declines gave the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq their worst sessions in about two weeks, as investors pulled back from semiconductor stocks and other shares tied to the artificial intelligence boom.
The selling was more severe in South Korea, where the Kospi index fell 10 percent on Tuesday, triggering a circuit breaker and a 20-minute pause in trading.
SK Hynix and Samsung, two of the world’s largest memory chipmakers, each dropped more than 12 percent.
Together, the two companies account for about half of the Kospi’s market value.
“These big moves are part of a growing trend of rising volatility in tech stocks generally,” James Reilly, senior markets economist at Capital Economics, said in a note.
“This volatility is, in our view, evidence of excessive froth and calls into question the sustainability of this rally.”
Tech Shares Come Under Pressure
The sell-off began in the United States on Monday, when the Nasdaq fell 1.3 percent, and deepened during Asian trading hours on Tuesday.
Market analysts cited several possible sources of investor concern, though no single catalyst was identified. Some pointed to weakness in Google and SpaceX on Monday.
Google fell 5 percent after a prominent artificial intelligence leader left for Anthropic, while SpaceX dropped 16 percent amid volatility following its stock market debut.
On Tuesday, Google lost less than 1 percent, while SpaceX rose about 1 percent after fluctuating during the session.
Other technology and chip shares remained under pressure. Nvidia fell about 4 percent.
Oracle declined more than 5.5 percent, leaving it down about 27 percent for the month.
Micron Technology dropped 13 percent, while Marvell Technology sank 9 percent. Traders were awaiting Micron’s quarterly earnings results on Wednesday.
Some analysts also pointed to renewed concern that the Federal Reserve could raise interest rates later in the year.
New Fed Chairman Kevin Warsh held his first press conference last Wednesday and said the central bank would intensify its effort to bring inflation under control, comments that traders interpreted as a signal that rates could rise.
Asia Declines, Then Stabilises
The pressure in South Korea spread across Asian markets. Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 3.6 percent, while SoftBank dropped 15 percent.
Most other major Asian indexes lost more than 1 percent.
The Kospi has risen more than 90 percent this year, making it more vulnerable to sudden reversals after a period of strong gains.
By Wednesday morning, however, the index had rebounded by 3 percent, while Samsung rose 7 percent, recovering a large portion of its Tuesday losses.
The Nasdaq has also pulled back from its recent highs but remains up for the year. The index is down about 5.5 percent from its record high set on June 2 and remains about 10 percent higher this year.
Focus Returns to AI and Rates
Stocks have spent much of the past two months at or near record levels.
After President Donald Trump announced a ceasefire in Iran in April, investors shifted much of their attention back to artificial intelligence and the Federal Reserve’s interest rate policy.
Oil prices slipped again on Tuesday as traders responded to signs of progress in peace negotiations.
“AI and valuations for tech-related companies are returning to the spotlight, as equity markets shift their focus from the Middle East war towards the sustainability of tech-related spending amid rising global interest rates,” Mason Mendez, global real assets analyst at Wells Fargo Investment Institute, said in a note.
