US stock markets open mixed; NASDAQ 100 plunges 270 pts, S&P500 and Dow Jones trade flat

The US stock market extended its mixed performance on Thursday amid rising hopes around on the US and Iran peace deal. Additionally, jobless claims data is also expected to influence Thursday’s trading session. Meanwhile, chip stocks will also remain in focus after the Korean and Japanese chip makers plunged as much as 9% earlier in the day.

While the Dow Jones opened 120 points higher at 54,486, slightly below the record high level of 54,749, the S&P 500 and NASDAQ 100 opened in the red. The NASDAQ 100 fell over 270 points, or 0.9%, amid a selloff in chip stocks.

Asian stocks ended mostly lower on Thursday, as participants booked profits due to growing anxiety over massive capital spending on Artificial Intelligence (AI). An avalanche of forced liquidations and automatic margin calls also added to the negative trend. The Korean KOSPI closed over 4% lower, and the Japanese Nikkei ended 1.1%.

At the stock-specific level, the chip makers like SanDisk Corporation, Micron Technologies, and AMD shares plunged as much as 7% on Thursday. Meanwhile, the investor sentiments dulled after soft financial outlooks from major tech entities, including SanDisk, Western Digital, and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), failed to meet exceptionally high market expectations.

Meanwhile, Shares of Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) were in focus as the investor lock-in period for early investors, executives, and employees ends today for partial shares. Under usual conditions, employees and early investors are prohibited from selling their stake within 180-days after listing. However, SpaceX got special arrangements; 20% of the quantity is allowed to be sold as of Thursday. The shares opened in the red on Thursday, but later recouped all the losses to trade 2% higher at 7:38 pm IST. The shares traded at $110 per share, considerably below $135 per share listing price.