US stocks mostly fell on Tuesday after Samsung’s (016360.KS) quarterly results sparked renewed selling in chip stocks and oil prices edged higher.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) rose 0.4% on the heels of a record-setting day on Wall Street. However, the S&P 500 (^GSPC) and the Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) fell 0.1% and 0.5%, respectively.
Volatility continued in the tech trade after Samsung reported colossal profits in the second quarter. Surging demand for artificial intelligence helped lift Samsung’s Q2 operating profit 19-fold; however, concerns about its AI spending plans and future demand spooked investors, leading to broader selling pressure across the semiconductor sector.
The pullback in tech stocks weighed on markets on Tuesday following a rally the day before that lifted the Dow to a record high above 53,000. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq also gained on Monday amid renewed faith in the AI trade following June’s chip stock sell-off.
Oil prices, meanwhile, rose following reports of Iranian attacks on commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz. Traffic through the critical waterway had been gradually picking back up, though markets remain attuned to the risk of the fragile US-Iran peace deal breaking down. Brent crude oil futures (BZ=F) briefly rose above $73 per barrel while those on WTI crude oil (CL=F) climbed to $69 per barrel.