Wall Street ends sharply lower as chips slide, jobs data fuels rate hike fears
By Stephen Culp and Medha Singh
NEW YORK, June 5 (Reuters) - Wall Street’s nine-week winning streak ended with a thud on Friday, as red-hot technology stocks suffered their largest daily decline since April 2025 after a hot May jobs report fueled fears of a hawkish policy pivot from the U.S. Federal Reserve.
Selling was concentrated among chip stocks and other technology favorites that have surged higher in recent weeks as the Nasdaq Composite Index and S&P 500 rose repeatedly to fresh highs.
All three major U.S. stock indexes closed sharply lower, with plunging chip stocks dragging the tech-laden Nasdaq down by its largest one-day percentage loss since April 2025.
The Philadelphia SE Semiconductor Index suffered its largest one-day percentage plunge since March 2020, erasing more than $1 trillion in stock market value.
The S&P 500 ended its nine-week run of Friday-to-Friday gains, its longest weekly winning streak since one that ended in December 2023.
"After the record run we've seen the last nine weeks in equities, specifically tech and semiconductors, the dam just broke today," said Ryan Detrick, chief market strategist at Carson Group in Omaha. "Obviously, the stronger-than-expected jobs report puts the Fed in a tough spot regarding any interest rate cut for the rest of the year. And the market is throwing a fit by hitting the big winners so far this year."
Rising interest rates and the Iran war weighed on sentiment heading into the weekend, but many investors said they expected tech stocks to continue rallying.
"The market reaction today was more driven by positioning rather than fundamentals," said Ohsung Kwon, chief equity strategist at Wells Fargo. "The semiconductor sector was way overbought. That's why we're seeing the selloff. I don't think it's the end of the semi bull market."
The U.S. economy added 172,000 jobs in May, according to the Labor Department, more than double analyst expectations, while the unemployment rate held firm at 4.3%. The robust report was double-edged: it provided reassurance of U.S. economic health, but all but killed any hopes of an interest rate cut from the Fed in the near future.
Financial markets are pricing in a 42.7% likelihood of a rate hike at the conclusion of the Fed's December meeting, according to CME's FedWatch tool.
Fading hopes for a near-term resolution to the Middle East war and reopening the Strait of Hormuz are stirring fears that energy price pressures could morph into wider, systemic inflation.
Iran reaffirmed its support for Hezbollah and demanded that Israel withdraw its troops from southern Lebanon, further complicating efforts to secure a near-term peace deal that would include the resumption of traffic through the crucial strait. U.S. President Donald Trump's administration has negotiated three truces, and while fighting has been greatly reduced, the two sides continue to trade airstrikes.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 695.15 points, or 1.35%, to 50,866.78, the S&P 500 shed 200.57 points, or 2.64%, to 7,383.74 and the Nasdaq Composite lost 1,121.53 points, or 4.18%, to 25,709.43.
Among the 11 S&P 500 sectors, tech plunged 5.8%, while consumer staples led the percentage gainers.
Nvidia, the largest company by market value, lost 6.2%, while Intel, Micron, AMD and Broadcom slid between 7.9% and 13.3%.
Lululemon Athletica slumped 8.6% after the athletic apparel maker cut its annual profit forecast and projected second-quarter earnings well below Wall Street estimates.
Cooper Companies rose 8.6% after the contact lens maker beat estimates for second-quarter results.
Cryptocurrency firms Coinbase and Strategy fell 7.1% and 6.9%, respectively, weighed by bitcoin's 4.1% drop.
S&P Global said it would not change the eligibility requirements for its major indices, which effectively rules out a swift entry for Elon Musk's SpaceX to the benchmark S&P 500 after it goes public in what would be the world's biggest initial public offering.
S&P Dow Jones Indices will announce the results following its rebalancing after markets close. Chipmaker Marvell Technology, which boasts over $270 billion in valuation, is among the contenders to be added to the benchmark index.
Declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 3.14-to-1 ratio on the NYSE. There were 132 new highs and 249 new lows on the NYSE.
On the Nasdaq, 1,074 stocks rose and 3,737 fell as declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 3.48-to-1 ratio.
The S&P 500 posted 14 new 52-week highs and three new lows while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 83 new highs and 178 new lows.
Volume on U.S. exchanges was 22.89 billion shares, compared with the 20.29 billion average for the full session over the last 20 trading days.
(Reporting by Stephen Culp; Additional reporting by Saeed Azhar in New York, and Medha Singh and Twesha Dikshit in Bengaluru; Editing by Rod Nickel)