US pre-open: Futures tumble on chip sell‑off and Asia market slump

23rd Jun 2026 11:12

(Sharecast News) - Wall Street futures were in the red ahead of the bell on Tuesday as a global sell‑off in chip names deepened and Asian markets were hit hard overnight.

As of 1245 BST, Dow Jones futures were down 0.49%, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 futures had the indices opening 1.31% and 2.66% lower, respectively.

The Dow closed 148.01 points higher on Monday as traders returned from the Juneteenth holiday.

Tuesday's pre-market losses were primarily driven by memory‑chip makers, with Micron down around 9% in pre‑market action, while Sandisk dropped more than 9% and Seagate slid roughly 7%. Intel was down 6.7%, and AMD and Qualcomm each lost more than 5%.

Pre-market weakness also extended beyond semiconductors, with SpaceX trading 3% lower, putting it on track for a fourth straight losing session, while Alphabet slipped another 2% after a 5% fall on Monday amid concerns over high‑profile AI talent departures.

The broad retreat follows a sharp reversal in tech sentiment that began at the start of the week and has since accelerated across global markets, with South Korea's benchmark, which was up 95% this year, down almost 10%, while Japan's Nikkei 225 shed 3.55% - breaking an eight sessions winning streak.

Trade Nation's David Morrison said: "The sell-off began soon after the US open as traders returned to work after the long holiday weekend. But it picked up momentum overnight and into this morning, led by some of the market-leading semiconductor stocks which have hogged the limelight of late.

"Questions are once again being raised over AI infrastructure spending, particularly as some corporate giants plan to sell equity to help fund expansion. Alphabet, which dropped close to 5% yesterday, recently announced plans for an $80bn stock sale to fund AI infrastructure expansion. There are also reports that Meta Platforms is considering a major public stock offering to fund AI spending. Historically, mega-cap US tech companies funded expansion from operating cash flow and occasionally debt. Last week Nvidia said it would raise $25bn through a bond offering, its first in five years. So, corporations are looking to raise a lot of money this year, not forgetting the expected IPOs from Anthropic and OpenAI after the summer. The money must come from somewhere. "

On the macro front, preliminary readings of S&P Global's June services and manufacturing PMIs were slated for release at 1445 BST, while June's Richmond Fed manufacturing index will follow at 1500 BST.

In the corporate space, FedEx will publish its latest quarterly earnings report after the close.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com