Nasdaq plunges over 400 points, Nvidia drops 5%, US semiconductor stocks tumble, Baidu falls nearly 7%, gold and silver decline.

On February 26, U.S. stocks opened mixed; as of 23:20, the three major U.S. stock indexes dropped sharply, with the Dow Jones down 0.35%. The Nasdaq’s decline widened to 1.8%, falling by more than 400 points. The S&P 500 index was down 1.08%.

Tech stocks traded mixed, with more losers than winners among the U.S. tech “Magnificent Seven.” Nvidia plunged more than 5%, with a market value loss of $0.21 trillion (about 1.44 trillion yuan RMB). On the news front, against the backdrop of rising scrutiny and doubt about AI, Nvidia’s earnings report released after the close on February 25 showed that in fiscal year 2026, revenue in the fourth quarter was $68.1 billion, up 73% year over year, and net profit was $43.0 billion. The company also forecast that revenue for the current quarter would further grow to $78.0 billion, significantly surpassing market expectations. Google was down more than 2%, Tesla down more than 1%; Microsoft was up more than 1%.

After Nvidia released its earnings report, the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index fell by nearly 5%. Semiconductor chip-related concepts fell across the board: Applied Materials, Broadcom, and ASML dropped more than 6%; Intel and Micron Technology dropped more than 5%; TSMC dropped more than 4%.

The U.S. quantum computing sector saw broad-based gains. IonQ Inc’s fourth-quarter revenue surged 4 times year over year, and it was up more than 18% at the time. D-Wave Quantum and Arqit Quantum rose more than 5%, while SEALSQ Corp and Rigetti Computing rose more than 3%.

Chinese concept stocks generally fell, with Baidu down nearly 7%. On the news front, Baidu’s latest earnings report showed that 2025 revenue was 129.1 billion yuan, and the share of AI business revenue in the fourth quarter was 43%. Li Auto, Bilibili, and Shell dropped more than 5%, while Alibaba fell more than 4%.

In commodities, spot gold fell below $5,140 per ounce, down 0.51% for the day. Spot silver fell 4% during the day, and was quoted at $85.55 per ounce. International oil prices moved lower: Brent crude oil futures were down more than 1%, and U.S. crude oil futures were down more than 2%.

In cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin rose as much as more than 9% at one point and briefly approached the $70,000 level. Ethereum rose as much as nearly 13% at one point and broke above $2,100 during the trading session. As of the time of this release, the gains for both Bitcoin and Ethereum had fallen significantly. CoinGlass data shows that in the past 24 hours, nearly 160,000 people were liquidated globally, with the total liquidation amount for contracts across the entire market nearing $600 million.

According to a report by CCTV News, local time on the 26th, a new round of U.S.-Iran talks began in Geneva, Switzerland. The U.S. and Iran have both entered the final stage of standoff: if they can achieve substantive progress, it may lead to a temporary or phased agreement, which would significantly ease regional tensions; if they are unable to break through on the core disagreements, it will very likely result in a breakdown of the diplomatic track, with U.S. military options turning into a reality, and the risk of accidental clashes rising sharply.

In addition, according to a report from Xinhua News Agency citing Greece’s daily newspaper “Kathimerini” on the 26th, the U.S. Navy’s largest aircraft carrier, the “Gerald R. Ford,” left the naval base at Souda Bay on the Greek island of Crete in the country’s southern region on the morning of the 26th and headed for the Middle East. The report said the “Ford” is expected to arrive in Israel within 24 hours.

According to Xinhua Finance and Economics, the number of Americans filing initial claims for unemployment benefits early last week was 212,000, versus 215,000 expected, and a prior figure of 206,000.