Stocks pause, close mixed… Intel plunges more than 17% [New York Market Briefing]

Wall Street’s three major stock indexes ended the session mixed with no clear direction. Analysts said the market has entered a pause as profit-taking emerged after two days of gains.

On the 23rd (local time), at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 285.3 points (0.58%) from the previous session to close at 49,098.7.

The Standard & Poor’s (S&P) 500 rose 2.26 points (0.03%) to 6,915.61, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 65.22 points (0.28%) to finish at 23,501.24.

All three indexes opened lower. Comments by U.S. President Donald Trump the previous afternoon that “a large U.S. naval fleet is heading toward Iran to prepare for contingencies” stoked investors’ risk-off sentiment.

However, as bargain hunting emerged after the open, the three indexes moved in different directions.

Sentiment diverged by sector. Big Tech—which had risen less relative to others—gained momentum, while semiconductor-related stocks that had dominated the market in recent days fell more than 1%. As a result, the Dow, weighted toward traditional industrial and blue-chip names, stayed in the red throughout the session, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq turned higher.

Intel in particular slumped on disappointing guidance. Intel said it expects first-quarter revenue between $11.7 billion and $12.7 billion, below the market’s average estimate of $12.51 billion. Intel shares fell 17% in a single day.

Intel’s plunge dragged other chipmakers lower. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index fell 1.21%, and Broadcom, ASML, Qualcomm and Arm, among others, declined 1–2%.

As money flowed into Big Tech, Microsoft rose 3.28%, Amazon 2.06%, Meta 1.72% and Nvidia 1.53%.

Investors are now shifting their focus to the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting scheduled for next week, on the 27th–28th, and to the next chair of the U.S. central bank. Treasury Secretary Bessent had said President Trump would name the next U.S. central bank chair next week.

By Seulgi Lee, Hankyung.com, seulkee@hankyung.com