The Nasdaq-100 index, tracked by the widely-held Invesco QQQ Trust [NASDAQ: QQQ], fell nearly 2% on Tuesday, May 12, with Broadcom Inc. [NASDAQ: AVGO] and Micron Technology Inc. [NASDAQ: MU] emerging as the two largest drags on both the Nasdaq-100 and the broader S&P 500.

The Nasdaq-100 led the day’s losses with a 1.9% decline by midday, outpacing the S&P 500’s 0.4% dip and the Dow Jones Industrial Average’s 0.9% retreat, reflecting the index’s heavier concentration in large-cap technology stocks that carry magnified influence over the index score.

Broadcom fell 4.2% and Micron plunged 9.9%, with each chip stock reducing the Nasdaq-100’s score by roughly 0.2 percentage points on its own, a reflection of both names’ significant weighting within the concentrated 100-stock index.

Amazon [NASDAQ: AMZN], Tesla [NASDAQ: TSLA], and Intel [NASDAQ: INTC] also weighed on the Nasdaq-100, each subtracting at least 0.1 percentage points from the index score by midday.

The declines in the chip sector were notable because neither Broadcom nor Micron had any meaningful negative news driving the selling, with Broadcom actually receiving a bullish analyst review and a raised price target from Citi earlier in the day, a development that would normally push a stock higher.

Also among the day’s prominent losers, Sandisk Corp. [NASDAQ: SNDK] dropped 9%, Intel fell 8.9%, and Western Digital [NASDAQ: WDC] declined 7.6%, contributing to a broad-based retreat across the memory and storage chip segment.

Chip equipment names were swept up in the same selling wave, with Applied Materials [NASDAQ: AMAT] falling 5.5%, Lam Research [NASDAQ: LRCX] declining 5.4%, and ASML Holding [NASDAQ: ASML] sliding 5.3%.

The hot inflation print released Tuesday morning added pressure to the session, reinforcing the view that the Federal Reserve will remain on hold for longer, with Bank of America analysts issuing a blunt warning that rate cuts may not materialise for the rest of 2026.

Kevin Warsh, recently nominated by President Trump as the next Fed Chair, is widely regarded as more hawkish than other candidates under consideration, adding another layer of uncertainty to the rate outlook that weighed on growth-oriented technology stocks.

Despite the sharp intraday moves, the broader session was described by analysts as a technically notable but not overwhelming retreat, with roughly half of the 30 Dow Jones Industrial Average components trading higher on the day even as the index itself declined, suggesting the damage was concentrated rather than systemic.