Chip stocks plummet, oil prices plummet, and the three major U.S. stock indexes fall collectively. What happened?

In the past few days, the U.S. stock market has been quite volatile! The three major stock indexes have collectively declined, and chip stocks have suffered a massive "Waterloo," even dragging down international oil prices.

Chip stocks collectively plummet, ASML becomes the biggest "scapegoat"

Speaking of the collective collapse of chip stocks this time, the biggest "culprit" is none other than the Dutch lithography machine giant ASML. On October 15th, ASML released a third-quarter financial report that shocked the market. The data showed that ASML's third-quarter order amount was only 2.63 billion euros, far below the market's expected 5.39 billion euros, which is a huge drop!

ASML also significantly lowered its performance expectations for 2025. The company reduced its net sales forecast for 2025 from the original 40 billion to 50 billion euros to 30 billion to 35 billion euros, and the gross margin forecast was also reduced from the original 55% to 60% to 51% to 53%. With the release of this series of "bearish" news, ASML's stock price immediately plummeted like a roller coaster, with the maximum drop during the trading day exceeding 15%!

ASML's "explosive" news directly triggered a collective decline in the entire chip sector. NVIDIA's maximum drop during the trading day exceeded 6%, AMD fell by more than 5%, and Broadcom fell by more than 3%. It can be said that the entire chip industry was "dragged down" by ASML.

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Some analysts believe that ASML's performance not meeting expectations may indicate a slowdown in demand growth in the chip industry. However, isn't this view a bit too pessimistic? After all, the poor performance of one company cannot represent that the entire industry is not good.

International oil prices plummet, with the IEA "bearish" call being the main reason?

At the same time, international oil prices have also seen a significant decline. Brent crude oil fell by more than 5% at one point, dropping below $73 per barrel; WTI crude oil fell by nearly 4.9%, reporting $70.21 per barrel. Such a large drop inevitably makes people wonder if something major has happened.

In fact, the main reason for this oil price plummet is that the International Energy Agency (IEA) lowered its expectations for global oil demand growth in 2024. The IEA reduced its forecast for global oil demand growth in 2024 to 860,000 barrels per day, which is significantly lower than previous expectations. The release of this news immediately poured a bucket of cold water on oil prices.However, the IEA also raised its forecast for global oil demand growth to 1 million barrels per day by 2025. This is a bit confusing, with some adjustments going down and others going up; it's hard to tell whether it's bullish or bearish.

Affected by the sharp drop in oil prices, A-share oil stocks also fell. PetroChina fell by 3.66%, and Sinopec fell by 2.94%. It seems that the impact of this oil price drop is quite widespread.

US stock market indices collectively decline, with technology stocks showing divergence

Against the backdrop of falling chip stocks and oil prices, the three major US stock market indices were also not immune. After opening on October 15th, the Nasdaq Composite fell by 0.69%, the S&P 500 fell by 0.29%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell by 0.21%.

However, it is worth noting that there has been a divergence in the performance of technology stocks. Although chip stocks fell collectively, Apple went against the trend and rose, with its market capitalization once breaking through $3.6 trillion, setting a historical record. This makes people have to admire Apple's "anti-fall" capability.

At the same time, the Nasdaq Golden Dragon China Index's decline expanded to 5%. It seems that Chinese concept stocks were also not immune to this wave of declines.

Geopolitical tensions affect market sentiment

In addition to the aforementioned factors, the tense geopolitical situation in the Middle East is also an important factor affecting market sentiment. The recent turmoil in the Middle East has brought uncertainty to the global economy, especially with a significant impact on international oil prices.

Analysts at Citigroup believe that geopolitical risks may continue to bring fluctuations to the market. They predict that if the situation worsens further, oil prices may experience more significant fluctuations.

What about the future trend? Experts' opinions vary.So, facing the current market conditions, what will the future trend be like? Opinions from various experts are quite diverse.

Some analysts believe that the slowdown in demand growth in the chip industry may only be temporary. In the long run, with the development of new technologies such as artificial intelligence and 5G, chip demand will still maintain growth.

Regarding the trend of oil prices, some experts say that although they may fluctuate in the short term due to the impact of geopolitical situations, in the long run, global economic recovery and energy transformation will be the main factors affecting oil prices.

As for the trend of US stocks, some analysts point out that although they may fluctuate in the short term due to multiple factors, the resilience of the US economy and the growth of corporate profits will still support the long-term trend of the stock market.

In general, the future trend of the market is still full of uncertainty. As ordinary investors, we still need to be cautious and not blindly chase rises and falls. After all, there are risks in the stock market, and investment needs to be cautious!