U.S. stocks fell on Tuesday as a tech sell-off intensified, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq dropping sharply while the Dow finished mostly flat.

The decline was driven by a global rout in semiconductor and memory chip stocks, which also dragged down markets in Asia, especially South Korea and Japan.

Major chipmakers like Micron, AMD, Intel, and Qualcomm all saw significant losses, while semiconductor ETFs dropped steeply.

Some defensive stocks and a few large tech names like Microsoft and Amazon rose, helping limit overall losses, CNBC has reported.

Analysts said the sell-off reflects crowded trades in AI-related stocks rather than broader economic weakness.