Tech Stocks Tumble On AI Nightmare, Nvidia Eyes Worst Day Since March 2020, Bitcoin Drops Below $100,000: What's Driving Markets Monday?

A wild selloff rattled tech stocks on Monday, striking at the heart of AI optimism as China’s DeepSeek startup unveiled an open-source large language model platform that outperforms OpenAI’s ChatGPT at a fraction of the cost.

The shockwave hit U.S. markets hard, raising fears over intensifying AI competition just as companies pour heavy investments into the new technology.

The elite Magnificent Seven stocks collectively shed about $600 billion in market value, with Nvidia Corp. NVDA alone erasing $450 billion, or 15% of its valuation. The AI powerhouse is on track for its worst single-day loss since March 18, 2020.

The Nasdaq 100 tumbled 3%, eyeing its steepest drop since Dec. 18, when hawkish comments from Fed Chair Jerome Powell rattled markets. The iShares Semiconductor ETF SOXX plunged over 7%, also eyeing its worst session since the pandemic-driven selloff of March 2020.

Chipmakers took a beating, with Broadcom Inc. AVGO and Marvell Technology Inc. MRVL both crashing 17.5%, while Micron Technology Inc. MU sank 11%.

As panic spread, investors sought refuge in safe-haven Treasury assets. Treasury yields slid, with the 10-year yield falling 7 basis points to a one-month low. The U.S. 10-Year Treasury Note ETF UTEN rose 0.7%.

The tech turmoil even bled into crypto markets, dragging Bitcoin BTC/USD back below $99,000. The world’s largest cryptocurrency lost $110 billion in market cap within hours as risk-off sentiment took hold.

Monday’s Performance In Major US Indices, ETFs

According to Benzinga Pro data:

• The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust SPY fell 1.9% to $596.73.
• The SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average DIA inched 0.2% higher to $445.05.
• The tech-heavy Invesco QQQ Trust Series QQQ dropped 3.4% to $511.88.
• The iShares Russell 2000 ETF IWM fell 1% to $226.47.
• The Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR Fund XLP outperformed, up 2.2%; the Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund XLE tumbled, down 5.3%.

Monday’s Stock Movers

• AT&T Inc. T soared 6.5% in reaction to stronger-than-expected earnings.
• SoFi Technologies Inc. SOFI plummeted 12% as a downbeat guidance darkened better-than-expected quarterly results.
• Crypto-related stocks such as MicroStrategy Inc. MSTR and Coinbase Global Inc. COIN fell by 7.8% and 9.6%, respectively.
• Apple Inc. AAPL rallied 3%, defying the broader tech selloff.

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