Tech Valuation Concerns Drag US Equities Lower

US equities fell sharply on Friday as technology stocks bore the brunt of a sell‑off, pushing the S&P 500 down 1.01% to a one‑week low.

Asian‑triggered chip selloff reverberates

■Shanghai Composite down 3.0% (000001.SS)

■Nikkei slid 4.0%

■Moonshot unveiled its Kimi K3 AI model, claiming parity with OpenAI and Anthropic offerings, stoking fears of an AI‑spending binge.

Magnificent Seven weigh on the index

■Apple, Microsoft, Nvidia, Alphabet, Amazon, Meta, Tesla – the Magnificent Seven – averaged a 1.5% drop

■Nasdaq 100 fell 1.49%, hitting a five‑week trough.

Mixed macro backdrop

■University of Michigan July consumer sentiment rose to 54.4 (vs. expected 51.0)

■One‑year inflation expectations eased to 4.2% (vs. expected 4.4%)

■Housing: June starts +19.0% m/m to 1.427 million (vs. 1.31 m expected); permits ‑3.0% m/m to 1.367 million (vs. 1.403 m expected)

■Manufacturing output flat (vs. +0.1% expected)

■Import‑price index ex‑petrol +0.5% m/m (vs. +0.4% expected)

■Energy shares gained as crude oil climbed to a five‑week high.

Kemal Tekin, EM Masası Head: "Valuation angst in tech, amplified by an early Asian reaction, sparked a global risk‑off move; still, robust consumer confidence and a rebound in energy may cap the downside."