Stock Market Today: S&P 500, DJI as Chip Stocks Sink Ahead of Iran Sanctions

U.S. stocks opened lower Monday, Aug. 24, with technology and semiconductor shares leading the retreat as investors prepared for Nvidia earnings, new U.S. sanctions on Iran and a key inflation report later this week.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 15.1 points, or 0.03%, to 53,261.95 at the opening bell. The S&P 500 dropped 0.14% to 7,663.38, while the Nasdaq Composite lost 0.44% to 26,065.32, according to Reuters. By about 9:40 a.m. ET, the supplied intraday chart showed the S&P 500 at 7,651.28, down 0.30%, indicating that selling pressure had strengthened after the open.

Chip Stocks Lead Early Market Weakness

Technology was at the center of Monday morning's risk-off move, with weakness spreading across semiconductor and AI-linked names.

The supplied market heatmap shows a broad concentration of losses among major technology stocks. Micron was down 5.47%, AMD fell 2.81%, Intel lost 3.64% and Broadcom declined 1.19%. Nvidia was down 0.62%, while Tesla fell 2.07%. SanDisk was among the sharper decliners, falling 8.61% on the heatmap.

Damian described the early move as erasing roughly $250 billion from the U.S. stock market as the S&P 500 fell about 0.3%. That market-cap figure should be treated as a social-media estimate rather than an exchange-reported total, but the heatmap clearly supports the broader point: selling was widespread and particularly heavy in chips.

The pressure comes ahead of Nvidia's quarterly results Wednesday. Analysts are looking for revenue to nearly double to around $92 billion, according to Reuters, leaving the company facing unusually high expectations after the AI-driven rally.

S&P 500 Faces an Early Downside Test

The S&P 500's intraday structure also turned weaker during the first minutes of regular trading.

The supplied 15-minute chart shows the S&P 500 breaking lower from the 7,660 area and trading at 7,651.28 around 9:40 a.m. ET. The chart presents a bearish scenario in which continued rejection below the upper 7,600s could open a move toward roughly 7,575.

That target is a trader's scenario, not a confirmed forecast. For the bearish setup to gain credibility, sellers would need to keep the index below the breakdown area around 7,640-7,660 and extend the sequence of lower intraday lows. A recovery back through the upper portion of the marked zone would weaken the downside case.

Commodity Breakout Keeps Inflation Risk in Focus

Equity investors are also watching a broader rise in commodity prices, which could complicate the Federal Reserve's inflation fight.

The monthly chart shows the Dow Jones Commodity Index holding well above the former resistance zone near 1,258 associated with the 2022 peak. The recent advance reached as high as 1,495.52 on the supplied chart before consolidating around the 1,400 area.

The Dow Jones Commodity Index is a diversified measure of commodity futures rather than the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Its breakout reinforces concern that higher energy, metals and other raw-material costs could keep inflation elevated and increase pressure on corporate margins.

That issue matters ahead of Wednesday's July Personal Consumption Expenditures report. Median forecasts cited by Reuters put annual core inflation at 3.3%, still well above the Fed's 2% goal. Markets currently imply roughly a 40% probability of a Fed rate increase in September, with a hike fully priced by December.

Iran Sanctions and Treasury Yields Add to the Risk

Geopolitics remains another major market driver. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is scheduled to outline new U.S. sanctions against Iran at a 2 p.m. ET press conference Monday. Washington has promised severe measures aimed at Iran and potentially its trading partners, while Tehran has threatened further disruption to Gulf oil exports.

Oil prices eased Monday as traders took profits ahead of the announcement, with Brent and WTI both falling more than $1 earlier in the session.

Long-term Treasury yields nevertheless remain elevated. The 30-year yield was around 5.25%, close to a 19-year high, despite Treasury efforts to increase bond buybacks. Higher yields are particularly important for technology stocks because they can reduce the valuations investors are willing to assign to future earnings.

Among individual companies, PDD Holdings reported second-quarter revenue of 112.36 billion yuan, below the 116.35 billion yuan LSEG estimate, while net income fell 12% to 27.2 billion yuan. The Temu parent nevertheless rose about 2.3% in early New York trading.

With Nvidia earnings, PCE inflation and Fed Chair Kevin Warsh's Jackson Hole speech all due this week, Monday's weak start leaves the S&P 500 and Nasdaq particularly sensitive to any further deterioration in chip stocks, bond yields or geopolitical risk.