Tech Pressured US Stock Indices

2026-05-18 17:15 By Andre Joaquim 1 min. read

Tech stocks slipped and pressured US equity indices on Monday, extending their pullback from record highs, while high energy prices maintained risks of higher inflation.

The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq dropped 0.3% and 1%, respectively, but the Dow was flat on strength for traditional sectors of the economy.

AI infrastructure companies were sharply lower as lower risk sentiment and lingering skepticism on the magnitude of AI spending growth trimmed the sector's rally from this year.

Micron, Applied Materials, and Sandisk dropped between 5% and 7%.

Additionally, Seagate plunged 8% after its rhetoric from its management cast doubt on the sustainability of memory chip demand.

Consistently, AI hyperscalers were lower with Tesla and Oracle dropping 3%.

Also, Nvidia shares retreated 2% ahead of its earnings this week, seen as a bellwether for AI demand globally.

Chevron, 3M, and Honeywell were sharply higher to support the Dow.



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Tech Pressured US Stock Indices
Tech stocks slipped and pressured US equity indices on Monday, extending their pullback from record highs, while high energy prices maintained risks of higher inflation. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq dropped 0.3% and 1%, respectively, but the Dow was flat on strength for traditional sectors of the economy. AI infrastructure companies were sharply lower as lower risk sentiment and lingering skepticism on the magnitude of AI spending growth trimmed the sector's rally from this year. Micron, Applied Materials, and Sandisk dropped between 5% and 7%. Additionally, Seagate plunged 8% after its rhetoric from its management cast doubt on the sustainability of memory chip demand. Consistently, AI hyperscalers were lower with Tesla and Oracle dropping 3%. Also, Nvidia shares retreated 2% ahead of its earnings this week, seen as a bellwether for AI demand globally. Chevron, 3M, and Honeywell were sharply higher to support the Dow.
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US equities were mixed on Monday following the late pullback from records last week as macroeconomic headwinds offset the speculative rally in AI infrastructure companies this year. The S&P 500, Nasdaq, and Dow hovered around the flatline. The stalemate between Iran and the US maintained expectations of a prolonged suspension in energy exports from the Middle East, lifting bond yields and sustaining their broad-based pressure on equities. Consistently, the Federal Reserve is expected to maintain their rates at a restrictive territory in the coming meetings despite incoming-Chairman Warsh's preference for lower rates. AI hyperscalers, which track risk sentiment due to their speculative nature, were mixed with Tesla and Meta dropping over 1%, while Alphabet and Microsoft were 1% higher. In turn, AI infrastructure was mostly higher with Nvidia adding 0.5% ahead of its key earnings results this week.
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