The Nasdaq drops 0.77% to 24,002 points: semiconductors save the session, tech under pressure

Semiconductors Stand Out in the Market

The electronic components sector significantly outperformed during this session. GlobalFoundries emerged as the leader of the day with a surge of 4.82% to $46.08, followed by Onsemi, which advanced 4.09% to $62.34. Chip equipment manufacturers also displayed strong performances: KLA Corporation gained 3.62% to $1,566.19, while Applied Materials increased by 3.37% to $373.99. Texas Instruments climbed by 3.18% to $194.63, and Analog Devices rose by 3.09% to $321.83. Beyond pure semiconductors, other tech stocks benefited from the rebound: Diamondback Energy advanced 2.75% to $197.06, Cisco rose 2.59% to $80.86, Marvell Technology increased by 2.44% to $92.36, and Lam Research climbed by 2.37% to $238.84. These gains reflect renewed interest in hardware infrastructure amid an otherwise hesitant market.

Disruption in Software and Cybersecurity

Conversely, enterprise software and cybersecurity stocks experienced significant losses. Axon Enterprise faced the sharpest decline in the index, falling 9.99% to $456.60. Atlassian plunged 8.39% to $68.17, while Zscaler dropped 8.16% to $139.41. The Trade Desk fell 6.72% to $22.34 and Workday declined 5.67% to $129.29. Intuit lost 5.38% to $432.45, Datadog decreased 5.15% to $122.57, and Applovin Corp fell 5.02% to $435.91. CrowdStrike dropped 4.92% to $392.99 and Take-Two Interactive declined 4.72% to $191.37. These sell-offs primarily affect high-valued stocks that had seen strong increases in recent months.

Sector rotation session before the end of the quarter

The March 24 session reflects a redistribution of positions just days before the quarterly close. The Nasdaq Composite, which remains close to its historical highs at 24,002 points, shows a slight decline but highlights marked differences in sector performance. Investors seem to favor material stocks and technology infrastructure over pure software players. Without a major catalyst on the agenda, technical arbitrages and portfolio rebalancing ahead of the end of the first quarter shaped the day's movements. The US market is operating in a climate of caution as it awaits quarterly reports expected in April.