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Pre-Market Brief: Tech Rout Eases as All Eyes Turn to Micron
Wednesday, June 24, 2026 · Pre-Market
After two days of watching the AI trade get taken to the woodshed — capped by a genuinely ugly Tuesday that started in Seoul and ended on Wall Street — futures are finally catching a small bid this morning. Don’t get comfortable. The bounce is happening on the same day Micron reports after the close and the day before PCE, so this is less “all clear” and more “everyone holding their breath at the same time.” Here’s the damage, the rebound, and the levels.
Tuesday’s Tech Rout: It Started in Seoul
Tuesday was the worst session of this pullback, and it was global. The S&P 500 fell 1.44% to 7,365.46, the Nasdaq Composite dropped 2.21% to 25,587.04, and the Nasdaq-100 shed roughly 3.3% — while the Dow lost just 0.09% to 51,666.84, once again barely scratched. The selling kicked off overnight when South Korea’s chip-heavy KOSPI cratered nearly 10%, its steepest drop in over three months, after a report that SK Hynix is slowing advanced AI-chip output to make more commodity memory — a flashing yellow light on AI demand. CNBC
The damage was almost entirely concentrated in semiconductors and AI infrastructure. Micron fell 13.2%, Sandisk 11.2%, AMD 5.8%, Qualcomm 8%, Nvidia 4.2% and Broadcom 3.1%, with the SMH chip ETF down 6.5% on the day. Underneath it all is a single nagging question that finally got loud: whether the hyperscalers’ massive AI capex will ever earn its keep. Money didn’t vanish so much as flee to safety — IBM jumped 5% on a JPMorgan upgrade, and Merck, J&J, Walmart and P&G all caught defensive bids. Trading Economics
The framing that matters: seven of eleven S&P sectors were actually green Tuesday — this was a chip problem masquerading as a market problem. That’s the bull case for a bounce. The bear case is that semis are the market’s leadership, and when the generals retreat, the troops eventually follow.
This Morning: A Bounce on Borrowed Time
Futures flipped green overnight as Asia stabilized — South Korea’s KOSPI rebounded more than 3% after Tuesday’s bloodbath, and U.S. chip names are clawing back. Nasdaq-100 futures are up about 0.3%, S&P 500 futures roughly 0.1%, and Micron itself is up around 4% pre-market ahead of its own earnings tonight. It’s a relief bounce, not a reversal — nobody wants to be too short or too long into the two biggest catalysts of the week landing back-to-back. TheStreet
FedEx Beat the Numbers and Got Punished Anyway
FedEx delivered a clean beat after Tuesday’s close — $25 billion in revenue (up 12.5%, versus ~$24 billion expected) and adjusted EPS of $6.31 against a $5.96 estimate — in its first report capping the spin-off of FedEx Freight. The market’s response? A roughly 6–7% drop in pre-market trading. Blame a stock that had already run 75% into the print, slowing revenue-growth optics, and a lack of clean stand-alone financials post-spinoff. Citi called the after-hours plunge “largely unjustified,” which is analyst-speak for “you’re overreacting.” CNBC
Levels: Nasdaq (NQ) and S&P (ES)
The structure has flipped from “buy the dip” to “respect the breakdown.” On the NQ, Tuesday’s 3.3% drubbing sliced through every level I flagged yesterday and parked the future near 29,000. That round number is now the pivot the morning bounce is fighting to hold; above it, 29,300 then 29,670 and the broken 30,089 shelf are the reclaim levels bulls need. Below 28,900 (Tuesday’s low), the next real support is 28,500, and air gets thin under there. Nasdaq
The S&P 500 told the same story by breaking the line that mattered. Tuesday’s 7,365.46 close took out the early-June 7,383 low I’d flagged as the must-hold level — so that support is now resistance, joined overhead by 7,420, 7,472 and the once-magnetic 7,500. With futures barely positive, the index is hovering right at 7,365–7,375, and the next supports worth watching are the round 7,300 and the rising 50-day average beneath it. A close back above 7,383 would suggest Tuesday was a flush; failure there keeps the pressure on into PCE. Yahoo Finance
Micron Tonight: The Whole Ballgame
Everything funnels into one report after today’s close. Micron is expected to post earnings near $20.83 a share on roughly $35.75 billion in revenue, and after hitting an all-time high Monday before getting cut 13% Tuesday, the stock is the cleanest read on whether the AI-memory boom is real or just ran too hot. Bank of America is still pounding the table with a $1,500 target (up from $950), while skeptics warn the stock could mean-revert toward $1,000 even on a decent print. One way or another, Micron’s guidance — not its headline number — sets the tone for chips going into Thursday. TheStreet
Bull/bear in one line: a strong Micron beat-and-raise tonight could single-handedly stop the chip bleeding and put a floor under the Nasdaq. A soft outlook — especially any echo of that SK Hynix demand warning — turns this week’s “rotation” into something that smells a lot more like the start of an AI-valuation reset.
Crypto: Still Trading Like a Tech Stock
Bitcoin keeps proving it’s a risk asset first and a “store of value” whenever it’s convenient. It’s slipped about 3% to around $62,300, unable to find a bid during the tech rout as a surging dollar and rising rate-hike odds suck the air out of speculative corners. Ether and the rest of the majors are lower in sympathy. Until equities steady and the dollar cools, crypto is likely to keep taking its cues from the Nasdaq rather than charting its own course. CoinDesk
Metals: Gold Cracks $4,100
The metals bleed continues, and gold just lost a big round number — down about 1.6% to roughly $4,082 an ounce, its lowest in weeks, while silver fell another 1.7% to near $61.50. The culprit is the same trio that’s been at work all week: a U.S. dollar index that punched to a fresh 2026 high above 101, rising Fed-hike expectations, and an Iran oil license that keeps deflating the geopolitical premium. So much for the “safe haven” — on a week when stocks, bonds and gold are all falling together, cash (and the dollar) is the only thing working. TheStreet
Macro & the Week Ahead: PCE Is the Boss
The backdrop pressuring everything is rates. The 10-year Treasury is hovering near 4.50% and the 2-year sits at its highest since February 2025, after a Bank of America note floated the possibility of up to three Fed hikes and futures moved toward pricing a September move. Today also brings May new home sales and the Fed’s bank stress-test results, but the real event is Thursday’s PCE — the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge — alongside the final Q1 GDP estimate. Kiplinger
| Day | Event | Why It Matters |
|---|---|---|
| Wed 6/24 | Micron (AMC), Paychex, Jefferies; New Home Sales; Fed stress tests | Micron’s guidance decides the chip trade |
| Thu 6/25 | May PCE, Final Q1 GDP, Durable Orders, Jobless Claims; Darden | The week’s main event — Fed’s favorite inflation read |
| Fri 6/26 | UoM Consumer Sentiment (final), Trade Balance | Sentiment and month-end positioning |
| Mon 6/29 | Alphabet joins the Dow 30 | Index reshuffle adds a megacap to the price-weighted Dow |
Thursday’s setup: consensus has May headline PCE near +0.5% month-over-month (pushing the annual rate toward ~4.1%), with core around +0.3%. A hot print validates the BofA three-hike fear, lifts the dollar further and pressures both tech and gold; a cool one is the lifeline bulls are praying for. Today’s bounce is a coin flip until that number lands.
One quiet item with staying power: Alphabet is set to join the price-weighted Dow Jones Industrial Average before next Monday’s open, a notable index reshuffle that hands the old-economy benchmark another megacap-tech heavyweight. It’s a vote of confidence in the name even as the broader AI complex wobbles — though Dow purists may note the irony of adding Big Tech to the index precisely as Big Tech has its worst week in months. The broader market will be watching how that rebalancing flows through index funds. Trading Economics
FAQ
Why did the stock market sell off on June 23?
A global tech rout. South Korea’s KOSPI fell nearly 10% overnight after a report that SK Hynix is slowing advanced AI-chip output, stoking fears that AI demand and hyperscaler capex returns may disappoint. That dragged U.S. chips sharply lower — Micron -13%, AMD -5.8%, Nvidia -4.2% — sending the Nasdaq down 2.21% and the S&P 500 down 1.44%, while the Dow held nearly flat.
What are the key Nasdaq and S&P levels for June 24?
On the Nasdaq-100, 29,000 is the pivot the morning bounce is defending, with 29,300, 29,670 and 30,089 as overhead resistance and 28,500 as support below. On the S&P 500, the broken 7,383 early-June low is now resistance (with 7,420 and 7,500 above), while 7,300 and the rising 50-day average are the supports to watch.
Why is Micron’s earnings report so important?
Micron reports after Wednesday’s close and is the cleanest gauge of whether the AI-memory boom is sustainable. It’s expected to earn about $20.83 a share on ~$35.75 billion in revenue. With chips leading both the rally and this week’s selloff, Micron’s guidance — not just the headline — will likely set the tone for the entire semiconductor group heading into Thursday’s PCE.
Why did FedEx fall after beating earnings?
FedEx beat on both revenue ($25B vs ~$24B) and adjusted EPS ($6.31 vs $5.96), but shares fell 6–7% pre-market. The drop reflects a stock that had already run 75% into the print, slowing revenue-growth optics, and a lack of clean stand-alone financials following the June 1 spin-off of FedEx Freight. Citi called the reaction “largely unjustified.”
Is this financial advice?
No. This brief is market commentary and education only. Levels are reference points drawn from prior-session and pre-market data, not trade recommendations. Manage your own risk and position sizing.
