US Semiconductor Stocks Slide as China Competition Fears Rattle AI Trade

US semiconductor stocks came under pressure in premarket trading on July 28, following a heavy overnight sell-off across Asian and European markets. Memory-chip maker Micron fell nearly 5%, while Nvidia slipped around 1%, and Intel and AMD each dropped more than 3%, signalling that investors were pulling capital out of memory and AI-related names that had posted large recent gains. The declines followed the blockbuster Shanghai debut of Chinese memory maker ChangXin Memory Technologies, whose surge stoked fears that Chinese firms could accelerate competition in the global chip industry and reach top-tier customers sooner than expected. The pressure was most acute in Asia, where South Korea's Kospi crashed about 10% and SK Hynix's newly listed US shares fell below their offering price, but it rippled through the US semiconductor complex, one of the market's biggest drivers over the past year. Traders said part of the move reflected profit-taking after a prolonged rally in AI stocks, alongside mounting questions about whether stretched valuations can be sustained. The sell-off arrived during a heavy week of megacap technology earnings and ahead of the Federal Reserve's policy decision, adding to investor caution.