Nasdaq slips – The Nasdaq Composite fell 0.43% Wednesday as Micron extended losses into its earnings release after the bell, while oil prices continued dropping and weighed on energy stocks.
On a day when traders were bracing for the next round of corporate numbers, one familiar pull started the rest of the market to drift lower: Micron.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite slid 0.43% to close at 25,476.64. The S&P 500 eased 0.10% to 7,358.22, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 182.06 points, or 0.35%, to finish at 51,848.90.
Investors weren’t just watching stocks—they were watching the fuel behind the mood. Oil prices kept sliding through Wednesday. International benchmark Brent crude futures fell 4.33% to settle at $73.74 per barrel, the lowest level since before the U.S. and Israel first launched airstrikes against Iran at the end of February. U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures dropped 3.92% to settle at $70.34 a barrel and had earlier hit the lowest level since early March.
Treasury yields moved lower as oil slid, with the 10-year note yield dropping below 4.5%. Energy stocks took the hit alongside it: shares of Exxon Mobil, Chevron, ConocoPhillips and SLB all declined more than 2%. The State Street Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLE) moved lower by more than 1%.
The attention, though, stayed pinned to semiconductors.
Micron shares came off their lows but still ended down 0.3%. Sandisk fell 2.5%. In the previous session, the two memory names had tumbled 13%. The VanEck Semiconductor ETF (SMH) finished the day marginally lower.
Micron is due to report its latest earnings after the market closes on Wednesday. Analysts polled by FactSet see earnings of $20.83 per share on revenue of $35.75 billion.
On Wall Street, the caution isn’t abstract—it has a price attached to it.
Micron has been on an unusual run in 2026. reaching a new all-time high on Monday and ending Tuesday at $1. 051.77 per share. But the setup for Wednesday’s trade has been tense. One market strategist warned the stock could drop after the earnings report. saying it might go “down to $1. 000. ” and describing that move as something traders would watch as it lines up with the stock’s “20-day moving average.”.
The pressure has been spreading outward. Wednesday’s session followed a rout in the technology sector on Tuesday that pulled both the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq lower. Investors sold off semiconductor-adjacent stocks in Tuesday’s session, with the SMH chip ETF ending the day 7% lower.
Even beyond chips, the day still carried corporate aftershocks. Alphabet gave up earlier gains to close down 0.2%, after S&P Global said Tuesday that the company will soon replace Verizon in the Dow.
Right now. the market’s question isn’t just what happened today—it’s what the numbers after the bell will confirm. With Nasdaq drifting lower and Micron already in focus. the next earnings print is less a routine update and more a test: whether traders’ heightened expectations can meet the bar. or whether the pullback in tech is only getting started.
Nasdaq Micron earnings semiconductors oil prices Brent West Texas Intermediate Treasury yields energy stocks XLE SMH