{"id":64892,"date":"2026-07-16T10:08:18","date_gmt":"2026-07-16T14:08:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/nasdaq-100-slides-as-chip-sector-weakens-unitedhealth-and-abbott-surge-on-strong-earnings\/64892\/"},"modified":"2026-07-16T10:08:18","modified_gmt":"2026-07-16T14:08:18","slug":"nasdaq-100-slides-as-chip-sector-weakens-unitedhealth-and-abbott-surge-on-strong-earnings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/nasdaq-100-slides-as-chip-sector-weakens-unitedhealth-and-abbott-surge-on-strong-earnings\/64892\/","title":{"rendered":"Nasdaq 100 Slides as Chip Sector Weakens; UnitedHealth and Abbott Surge on Strong Earnings"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>Key Takeaways<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>The Nasdaq 100 extended its decline to 1%<\/strong> as a sell-off in the semiconductor sector, led by a <strong>4.5% drop in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (<a href=\"\/stock\/TSM\">TSM<\/a>)<\/strong>, outweighed strong quarterly results and a raised capital expenditure outlook.<\/li>\n<li><strong>UnitedHealth Group (<a href=\"\/stock\/UNH\">UNH<\/a>) and Abbott Laboratories (<a href=\"\/stock\/ABT\">ABT<\/a>) shares surged 6.3% and 5.7% respectively<\/strong> after both healthcare giants reported second-quarter earnings that beat estimates and subsequently raised their full-year profit guidance.<\/li>\n<li><strong>U.S. Initial Jobless Claims fell to 208,000<\/strong>, the lowest level in 10 weeks, signaling continued labor market resilience despite a slight <strong>0.2% decline in core retail sales<\/strong> for June.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Eli Lilly (<a href=\"\/stock\/LLY\">LLY<\/a>) announced a $2.8 billion acquisition of AtaiBeckley (<a href=\"\/stock\/ATAI\">ATAI<\/a>)<\/strong>, sending the biotech&#39;s shares up over <strong>33%<\/strong> as the pharmaceutical leader expands its pipeline into psychedelic-based mental health treatments.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Trump Media &amp; Technology Group (<a href=\"\/stock\/DJT\">DJT<\/a>)<\/strong> revealed plans to launch a licensed data API for institutional customers on August 1, 2026, aiming to monetize <strong>Truth Social<\/strong> content for Wall Street trading firms.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Tech Sector Drags on Major Indices<\/h2>\n<p>The <strong>Nasdaq 100<\/strong> fell by as much as <strong>1%<\/strong> on Thursday, continuing a period of volatility for high-growth technology stocks. The decline was primarily driven by a retreat in the semiconductor industry; the <strong>VanEck Semiconductor ETF (SMH)<\/strong> dropped roughly <strong>2%<\/strong>, with <strong>Arm Holdings (<a href=\"\/stock\/ARM\">ARM<\/a>)<\/strong> and <strong>Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (<a href=\"\/stock\/TSM\">TSM<\/a>)<\/strong> seeing significant selling pressure. Despite <strong>TSMC<\/strong> reporting strong quarterly figures and hiking its CapEx, investors appeared concerned about the sustainability of the AI-driven rally.<\/p>\n<p>In contrast, the <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/stockmarketwatch.com\/indices\/dowjones\/today\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"1\" title=\"Dow Jones Today\">Dow Jones<\/a> Industrial Average<\/strong> managed to gain <strong>135.06 points (0.26%)<\/strong> shortly after the open, reaching <strong>52,793.70<\/strong>. This divergence highlights a rotation into defensive and value-oriented sectors, particularly healthcare and insurance, which provided a buffer against the tech-heavy Nasdaq&#39;s losses.<\/p>\n<h2>Healthcare Giants Lead Earnings Winners<\/h2>\n<p><strong>UnitedHealth Group (<a href=\"\/stock\/UNH\">UNH<\/a>)<\/strong> reported a massive earnings beat, with adjusted EPS of <strong>$6.38<\/strong> crushing the consensus estimate of <strong>$4.87<\/strong>. The company raised its full-year 2026 adjusted earnings guidance to a range of <strong>$19.50 to $20.00 per share<\/strong>, reflecting strong operational performance across its Optum and UnitedHealthcare divisions.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Abbott Laboratories (<a href=\"\/stock\/ABT\">ABT<\/a>)<\/strong> also saw its stock price climb over <strong>5%<\/strong> after lifting its full-year profit outlook. The medical device maker reported second-quarter sales growth of <strong>13%<\/strong> on a reported basis, driven by its diagnostics and medical device units. Abbott&#39;s new 2026 adjusted EPS guidance of <strong>$5.45 to $5.60<\/strong> surpassed previous analyst expectations.<\/p>\n<h2>Economic Data Shows Resilient Labor, Softening Retail<\/h2>\n<p>Fresh economic data provided a mixed view of the U.S. economy. <strong>Initial jobless claims<\/strong> for the week ending July 11 fell by <strong>8,000 to 208,000<\/strong>, significantly lower than the <strong>217,000<\/strong> expected by economists. This suggests that while some sectors are cooling, the broader labor market remains tight with rare layoffs.<\/p>\n<p>However, <strong>June Retail Sales<\/strong> grew by only <strong>0.2%<\/strong>, meeting expectations but showing a slowdown from the previous month&#39;s <strong>0.9%<\/strong> gain. More concerning was the <strong>core retail sales<\/strong> figure, which excludes automobiles and gasoline, falling <strong>0.2%<\/strong> against a projected <strong>0.1%<\/strong> decline. This indicates a potential softening in consumer discretionary spending as high interest rates continue to weigh on households.<\/p>\n<h2>Commodities and Geopolitical Developments<\/h2>\n<p><strong>Spot <a href=\"https:\/\/stockmarketwatch.com\/metal\/gold\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"4\" title=\"gold price today\">Gold<\/a><\/strong> prices fell sharply, dropping <strong>2% to $3,981.27\/oz<\/strong>, as resilient economic data and firmer Treasury yields dampened the immediate appeal of non-yielding assets. <strong>Spot <a href=\"https:\/\/stockmarketwatch.com\/metal\/silver\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"5\" title=\"silver price today\">Silver<\/a><\/strong> followed suit, sliding <strong>3% to $56.08\/oz<\/strong>. Despite the daily drop, <strong>Wells Fargo<\/strong> recently upgraded its outlook on commodities to <strong>&quot;favorable&quot;<\/strong> from neutral, citing cyclical and secular forces that could benefit the materials sector.<\/p>\n<p>On the geopolitical front, <strong>China\u2019s Executive Vice Foreign Minister Ma Zhaoxu<\/strong> is expected to visit the United States next week. According to reports from the <em>South China Morning Post<\/em>, the visit is likely intended to lay the groundwork for a potential meeting between <strong>President Xi Jinping<\/strong> and <strong>President Donald Trump<\/strong> later this year, potentially during the G20 summit in Miami.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Key Takeaways The Nasdaq 100 extended its decline to 1% as a sell-off in the semiconductor sector, led by a [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":50383,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center 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