[Intraday Analysis of U.S. Stocks] Technology selling pressure continues to expand, market weakness, capital risk appetite cools down (2025.08.21)
U.S. stocks were under intraday pressure, with fees leading the decline; concerns about slowing AI capital expenditures heating up, and weighted technology generally fell. Funds shifted to defense and medical care, and retail sales were divided; U.S. bond yields fell, and oil and gold rose. Volatility heats up.
Technology selling pressure continues to expand, the market weakens, capital risk appetite cools.
U.S. stocks were under overall pressure during the session, with technology-related and chip stocks continuing to be the main selling trend. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was temporarily reported at 44,878.42, down 0.10%; the S & P 500 was temporarily reported at 6,380.98, down 0.47%; the Nasdaq was temporarily reported at 21,104.43, down 0.99%; the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index was temporarily reported at 5,573.84, down 1.72%. The market continued profit-taking of high-evaluation growth stocks, funds shifted to defense and cash flow stability targets, and overall risk appetite cooled.
The decline led by Feb. 50 highlights the pressure on the AI chain, and concerns about slowing AI spending among enterprises are growing.
Affected by discussions that the pace of corporate AI capital expenditures may slow down, the AI and chip community rollback has expanded. Palantir Technologies(PLTR) fell, Nvidia(NVDA) fell intraday, and the market replaced high-beta assets with value and defense themes in the short term. Among the semiconductor community, Intel(INTC) fell 7.07%, and Micron Technology(MU) fell 5.48%, simultaneously pulling down the performance of the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index, indicating that the theme of the boom cycle is experiencing selling pressure during rebalancing.
A small number of bullish stocks bucked the trend and went higher. Health care bucked the trend.
Lido driving and defensive attributes became the highlights of the session, with Analog Devices(Adno, ADI) rising 4.58%, showing relative strength in the market recessions; medical equipment and biotechnology themes continued to be popular, with Medtronic plc(Medtronic, MDT) rising 4.13%, and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals(Regneron, REGN) rising 3.82%. In a highly volatile environment, funds prefer groups with stable cash flow and high fundamental certainty, and their formation is significantly differentiated from the trend of growth equity stocks.
The performance of retail stocks diverged, target department stores fell sharply, highlighting fundamental pressure.
Target(TGT) announced a change of chief executive officer and announced that revenue fell again, and its stock price fell 6.83%, indicating that consumer momentum and uncertainty during the operating adjustment period are still there; in contrast, The TJX Companies(TJX Company, TJX) earned better than expected and revised its full-year outlook, emphasizing its ability to absorb potential tariff costs. Its stock price rose against the trend; furniture maker La-Z-Boy(LZB) fell due to weaker store sales and weak demand for the Joybird brand. The differentiation of the retail chain reflects that the cost control and inventory efficiency advantages of discount retail are relatively obvious.
Financial technology and food themes are favored, supported by ratings and fundamentals.
Jack Henry & Associates(JKHY) reported better than expected and rose intraday, driven by increased technology spending by financial clients;Hormel Foods(HRL) was upgraded by JP Morgan, optimistic about the demand resilience of its high-protein and less artificially added product portfolio, and its share price rose. The news shows that in an environment of economic prosperity and uncertain interest rates, companies with stable cash flows and clear consumer preferences are more likely to be favored by funds.
The general pullback of Weiwen Technology has increased the pressure on the index.
Large technology equity stocks weakened simultaneously, with Nvidia(NVDA) down 1.24%, Tesla(Tesla, TSLA) down 2.51%, Apple(AAPL) down 1.84%, Meta Platforms(Facebook, META) down 1.06%, Microsoft(MSFT) down 0.76%, Alphabet(GOOGL) down 0.91%, and Amazon(Amazon, AMZN) down 1.66%. Under the conditions of high weight and active transactions, this wave of retracements has a significant drag on the Nasdaq and the S & P 500, in contrast to the confrontational decline of defense and value groups.
Intraday trading focused on topics and the volatility of earnings stocks rose.
The trading momentum of the day was concentrated on news-driven individual stocks and high-weight technology stocks. The spread between Target Department Store (TGT), Intel(INTC), Micron Technology(MU) and other companies widened, and trading was significantly enlarged; AI-themed Palantir Technologies(PLTR) and Nvidia(NVDA) continued to retreat, and short-term trading forces were sawing back and forth at important prices. The overall market shows signs of reallocation from winners to backwardness and defensive themes, with volatility higher than the recent average.
Futures index weakened, bond interest rates fell, oil and gold rose, indicating a preference for hedging.
Stock index futures fell in the same direction as spot prices, and the yield rate on 10-year U.S. bonds fell, reflecting that funds increased their holdings of safe-haven positions amid stock market fluctuations; crude oil and gold futures rose simultaneously, demonstrating the need to hedge against inflation and risk events; The trend of the US dollar is divided, strengthening against the pound and weakening against the euro and the yen, indicating the dynamic adjustment of foreign exchange market policy and interest rate spread expectations; most of the major crypto assets are up, and asset allocation seeks a balance between risk and risk avoidance. Volatility expectations remain within the range of recent days, and short-term sentiment has not become extreme.
The market focus returns to the two main lines of AI investment rhythm and consumption resilience.
Intraday and follow-up attention will be on the assessment of corporate AI spending intensity and payback period, retail-end inventory and gross profit structure adjustment, tariff and cost transmission capabilities, and the impact of bond yield trends on valuations. At the indicator level, the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index and large technology equity stocks are still risk thermometers. If selling pressure continues, funds may extend their stay in the defensive and high dividend direction.
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