On Tuesday, the US stock market opened with a stark divergence as the Nasdaq Composite shed 215.13 points, or 0.86%, to trade at 24,716.95, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average rallied 285.84 points, or 0.55%, to 52,495.92. The S&P 500 edged lower by 15.44 points, or 0.21%, to 7,397.74. The Nasdaq was dragged lower by a brutal global semiconductor sell-off, with investors fleeing AI-related hardware names amid growing scrutiny over massive infrastructure spending and mounting competition from Chinese chipmakers. The Dow advanced on the back of a rotation into defensive and value-oriented sectors, supported by robust earnings from blue-chip companies and falling crude oil prices. Asian semiconductor giants bore the brunt of the selling, with South Korea’s Kospi index plunging over 10% as investors dumped shares of memory chipmakers SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics.