US-listed Chinese Stocks Plummet as Tech and Chip Sectors Surge
US-listed Chinese stocks plummeted late in session on August 12 Beijing time, while tech and chip stocks showed significant gains. The Nasdaq Golden Dragon China Index fell over 2%, with WeRide dropping more than 8% to lead the declines.
The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index surged nearly 3%, led by memory chip stocks. SanDisk jumped over 8%, SK Hynix and Seagate Technology both gained over 7%, Micron Technology rose more than 6%, and Nvidia climbed over 3%. Lumentum's gains expanded to over 10% in the optical communications sector.
The US Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that July Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 3.4% year-over-year, in line with expectations. Core CPI, which excludes food and energy, rose 2.5% year-over-year and 0.2% month-over-month, both in line with market estimates.
The inflation data provided support for risk assets and eased concerns that the Federal Reserve might further tighten monetary policy in the near term. The collective strength in memory stocks reflects market optimism about recovering demand for DRAM and NAND flash products, particularly as AI servers continue to drive surging demand for high-bandwidth memory (HBM).
Safe-haven assets also gained ground, with spot gold briefly topping $4,440 per ounce and spot silver rising 2.20%. Oil prices edged lower, with WTI crude down 0.44% to $82.83 per barrel.