Eastern Time, June 5th (Friday), the Nasdaq Composite Index closed sharply down by 1,121.53 points, a drop of 4.18%, at 25,709.43 points, marking the largest single-day decline since the tariff shock in April 2025; the S&P 500 fell 2.64%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 1.35%, with all three major indices collapsing across the board.

The immediate trigger was the significantly better-than-expected U.S. non-farm employment data for May. The U.S. Department of Labor announced 172k new non-farm jobs added in May, far exceeding market expectations of 80k–90k, and the data for March and April was revised upward by more than 90k, with the unemployment rate holding steady at 4.3%. The hot employment report completely shattered market expectations of the Federal Reserve cutting interest rates this year—The CME FedWatch tool showed the implied probability of a 25 basis point rate hike by the end of the year jumped from about 48% to over 60%, and the 10-year U.S. Treasury yield surged above 4.55%. The rise in risk-free rates directly suppressed the discounted value of future cash flows for high-valuation tech growth stocks, triggering a capital flight.

At the individual stock and sector level, AI and semiconductor stocks experienced a "stampede-like" sell-off. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index plummeted over 10% in a single day, Nvidia fell 6.2% (market cap evaporating about $328 billion), Broadcom dropped 7.9% (after a previous day’s 12% plunge due to AI guidance missing the highest expectations), Micron, ARM, Intel, and AMD all fell more than 10%–13%, Meta declined 5.5%, and Tesla dropped 6.5%. Previously, tech and chip stocks had risen for nine consecutive weeks, with high crowdedness and valuation levels, making them vulnerable to any negative news triggering algorithmic stop-losses and long squeezes.

Currently, market disagreement exists: some institutions believe this is a healthy correction after overheating, and that the AI industry trend remains intact; another camp warns that if subsequent inflation data also remains strong and the Federal Reserve formally removes its dovish language, the high-interest-rate environment will continue to suppress the valuation center of the Nasdaq. In the short term, attention should be paid to next Thursday’s CPI data and the Federal Reserve’s June policy statement; if rate hike expectations further solidify, tech stocks may still face downside risks. The Asia-Pacific markets are expected to be affected by sentiment transmission at the Monday open, with A-shares semiconductor and Hong Kong Hang Seng Tech sectors needing to watch for downward opening pressure.