Chipmaker Stocks Sink On ASML Earnings Leak, Oil Eyes Worst 1-Day Drop This Year, Small Caps Rally: What’s Driving Markets Tuesday?

A wave of market-relevant news fueled an active trading session on Wall Street Tuesday, with large-cap indices falling due to sharp declines in tech and energy stocks, while small-caps outperformed, led by gains in regional banks.

At the forefront of the headlines is the massive plunge in ASML Holding NV ASML shares. The Dutch chipmaker’s stock nosedived over 16% after a technical error prematurely revealed its third-quarter earnings, originally scheduled for Wednesday, on the company’s website.

The report disclosed weaker-than-expected guidance for 2025, leading to the worst single-day drop in ASML stock since it went public in 2002.

ASML’s collapse sent shockwaves across the semiconductor sector, with the iShares Semiconductor ETF SOXX falling more than 4%, marking its worst performance since early September. Key semiconductor players were hit hard, with NVIDIA Corp. NVDA down 5% and Arm Holdings PLC-ADR ARM tumbling 7%.

Another underperforming sector was energy. Oil prices plunged 5%, setting up their worst trading day in over a year.

The sell-off followed a Monday’s report from The Washington Post, which revealed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu assured the Biden administration Israel would refrain from targeting Iranian oil and nuclear facilities in any retaliatory military actions.

Meanwhile, the financial sector surged, extending its all-time highs as Bank of America Corp. BAC, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. GS, and Charles Schwab Corp. SCHW all posted stronger-than-expected quarterly earnings.

Gains also spread to more economically sensitive regional banks, with the SPDR S&P Regional Banking ETF KRE jumping over 3%, lifting the broader Russell 2000 index by 1%.

In other markets, both the U.S. dollar and Treasury yields remained steady, as there were no major updates on interest-rate expectations. Gold edged up by 0.6%, while Bitcoin BTC/USD continued its recent momentum, climbing 1.3% after a 5.1% surge on Monday.

According to Benzinga Pro data:

• The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust SPY fell 0.4% to $581.82.
• The SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average DIA inched 0.3% down to $429.46.
• The tech-heavy Invesco QQQ Trust Series QQQ fell 1.1% to $491.72.
• The iShares Russell 2000 ETF IWM rose 1% to $222.52.
• The Financials Select Sector SPDR Fund XLF outperformed, up 1%. The Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund XLE lagged, down 2.3%.

• Airlines and cruise lines rallied in reaction to lower oil prices. American Airlines Group Inc. AAL rose 2.2%, United Airlines Holdings Inc. UAL gained 2.2%. Carnival Corp. CCL and Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. NCLH rallied 7.7% and 5.5%, respectively.
• Charles Schwab rose 7.5% after reporting stronger-than-expected quarterly results.
• Other stocks reacting to earnings were UnitedHealth Group Inc. UNH, down 7.4%; Johnson & Johnson JNJ, up 1.8%; Bank of America Corp., up 1.9%; Goldman Sachs Group Inc., down 0.3%; Citigroup Inc. C, down 4%; PNC Financial Services Group Inc. PNC, up 4%; State Street Corp. STT, up 0.6% and Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. WBA, up 13%
• Companies slated to report earnings after the close include Interactive Brokers Group Inc. IBKR, United Arlines Holdings Inc., Omnicon Group Inc. OMC and J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc. JBHT.

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