Stock Market Today, July 16: Micron Plunges as Tech Stocks Extend Sell-Off

The Nasdaq Composite fell 1.47% on July 16, 2026, as tech stocks extended their sell-off driven by mounting concerns over artificial intelligence spending and escalating geopolitical tensions between the U.S. and Iran.

Micron Technology (MU) led the decline, plunging nearly 6%. Fellow semiconductor names Nvidia (NVDA) and Broadcom (BRCM) also posted losses. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSM) dropped despite reporting record earnings, underscoring the market's shift away from chip stocks regardless of fundamental performance.

Abbott Laboratories (ABT) bucked the trend, surging more than 10% on strong quarterly earnings results.

A Bank of America fund manager survey highlighted the prevailing sentiment shift: 45% of respondents now identify an AI bubble as the largest risk facing markets. The concentration of losses in AI-exposed semiconductor stocks suggests institutional investors are actively rotating out of the trade that dominated 2025 and early 2026.

The PowerShares QQQ Trust (QQQ), which tracks the Nasdaq-100, absorbed the tech weakness as its top holdings came under pressure.