US stocks fall dragged down by losses in technology shares; Nasdaq tumbles 1.4%

The United States equity benchmarks fell sharply lower on Tuesday, July 7, dragged down by weakness in technology shares following a selloff in Samsung shares during Asian trading hours.

Tech heavy Nasdaq dropped 1.4%, Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 0.1% and S&P 500 index fell 0.6%.

Samsung, one of the world's biggest memory chip makers, reported 19-fold increase in its operating profit for the quarter ended June 30, but the strong earnings report failed to impress investors as analysts raised concerns about the strength of AI chip boom.

Intel, saw its shares drop over 5%, Micron Technology stock tumbled 8%, AMD dropped 7.3% and Broadcom shares fell 3%.

On the flip side, Johnson & Johnson was top gainer in the Dow Jones Industrial Average index, the stock rose 3.07% to $267. Coca Cola, Salesforce, Chevron, Travelers, McDonald’s and Procter & Gamble and Walmart were also among the top gainers in the Dow Jones.

On the flip side, Amgen, Walt Disney, Nike, Apple, American Express and Home Depot were top losers in the Dow Jones index.

Asian shares ended lower as sentiment was shaken by selloff in Samsung shares. Japan's Nikkei dropped 2.12%, China's Shanghai Composite fell 1.26% and South Korea's KOSPI index plunged 5%.

Iranian state television said the liquefied natural gas tanker came under attack after ignoring warnings but did not directly claim the assault.

Brent crude, the international standard, added 1.3% to $72.93.