{"id":66697,"date":"2026-08-18T06:07:12","date_gmt":"2026-08-18T10:07:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/tech-sector-retreats-as-semiconductor-weakness-weighs-on-nasdaq-home-depot-gains-post-earnings\/66697\/"},"modified":"2026-08-18T06:07:12","modified_gmt":"2026-08-18T10:07:12","slug":"tech-sector-retreats-as-semiconductor-weakness-weighs-on-nasdaq-home-depot-gains-post-earnings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/tech-sector-retreats-as-semiconductor-weakness-weighs-on-nasdaq-home-depot-gains-post-earnings\/66697\/","title":{"rendered":"Tech Sector Retreats as Semiconductor Weakness Weighs on Nasdaq; Home Depot Gains Post-Earnings"},"content":{"rendered":"

The U.S. stock market is exhibiting a bifurcated performance this Tuesday, August 18th, 2026, as a sharp sell-off in the technology sector, specifically within semiconductors, drags down the broader growth-oriented indexes. While the blue-chip Dow Jones<\/a> Industrial Average remains resilient, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite is facing significant downward pressure as investors recalibrate their exposure to high-valuation AI and chip stocks.<\/p>\n

Market Index Performance and Futures<\/h2>\n

As of mid-morning trading, the major market indexes are showing divergent paths. The Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ<\/a>), which tracks the Nasdaq 100, is the day\u2019s primary laggard, falling 1.18%. This weakness is echoed by the State Street SPDR S&P 500<\/a> ETF Trust (SPY<\/a>), which is down 0.46%. Small-cap stocks are also underperforming, with the iShares Russell 2000 ETF (IWM<\/a>) sliding 0.21%.<\/p>\n

In contrast, the State Street SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF Trust (DIA<\/a>) is managing to stay in positive territory with a modest gain of 0.02%. This stability is largely due to strength in value-oriented sectors. The "fear gauge" or volatility index is reflecting the tech turbulence, with the iPath Series B S&P 500 VIX Short-Term Futures ETN (VXX<\/a>) jumping 1.23%.<\/p>\n

Semiconductor Slump and Tech News<\/h2>\n

The primary catalyst for today\u2019s Nasdaq decline is a broad retreat in the semiconductor space. The VanEck Semiconductor ETF (SMH<\/a>) has plunged 3.06%, driven by significant losses in industry leaders. Nvidia<\/a> Corp (NVDA<\/a>) is down 2.1% in active trading, but the pain is even more pronounced for memory and specialized chipmakers. Micron<\/a> Technology, Inc. (MU<\/a>) has seen its stock price tumble 4.9%, while SK hynix Inc. (SKHY<\/a>) is down 5.2%.<\/p>\n

The most significant premarket<\/a> mover in the sector was Sandisk<\/a> Corporation (SNDK<\/a>), which saw a 5.8% decline on high dollar volume. This weakness in chips has spilled over into broader AI themes, evidenced by the iShares A.I. Innovation and Tech Active ETF (BAI<\/a>) falling 3.35%. Outside of tech, Profusa, Inc. (PFSA<\/a>) and Xos, Inc. (XOS<\/a>) saw massive speculative surges, rising 115.8% and 100.7% respectively on unusual volume.<\/p>\n

Earnings Spotlight: Home Depot and Retail Resilience<\/h2>\n

While tech falters, the retail sector is providing a bright spot. Home Depot, Inc. (HD<\/a>) reported its Q2 2026 earnings before the opening bell, posting an estimated EPS of $4.73 on revenue of approximately $47.3 billion. The positive sentiment surrounding the home improvement giant has helped the State Street SPDR S&P Retail ETF (XRT<\/a>) lead sector gains with a 0.9% rise.<\/p>\n

Other companies reporting this morning included Baidu, Inc. (BIDU<\/a>), which posted an estimated EPS of $1.57, and XPeng Inc. (XPEV<\/a>). Investors are also looking ahead to the after-hours session, where Keysight Technologies, Inc. (KEYS<\/a>) and Toll Brothers, Inc. (TOL<\/a>) are scheduled to release their financial results.<\/p>\n

Upcoming Economic Events<\/h2>\n

Market participants are keeping a close eye on the Federal Reserve's upcoming calendar and inflation data due later this week. The slight uptick in the iShares 7-10 Year Treasury Bond ETF (IEF<\/a>) suggests a minor flight to safety as tech volatility increases. Tomorrow, Wednesday, August 19th, will be another critical day for the retail sector with earnings expected from Lowe's Companies Inc. (LOW<\/a>), Target Corporation (TGT<\/a>), and The TJX Companies, Inc. (TJX<\/a>). These reports will provide further clarity on the health of the American consumer amidst fluctuating interest rate expectations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The U.S. stock market is exhibiting a bifurcated performance this Tuesday, August 18th, 2026, as a sharp sell-off in the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":50312,"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 center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"rank_math_schema_Article":[],"rank_math_focus_keyword":[],"rank_math_description":[],"financial_data_references":[],"stock_symbols_mentioned":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[94,6824],"tags":[95,311,633,3710,3878,4380,5027,14650],"class_list":["post-66697","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-market-update","category-featured","tag-nasdaq","tag-mu","tag-nvda","tag-federal-reserve","tag-hd","tag-stock-market","tag-semiconductors","tag-retail-earnings"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66697","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=66697"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66697\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/50312"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=66697"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=66697"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=66697"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}