Nasdaq 100 Slides Into Correction as Nvidia's $250 Billion OpenAI Financing Plan Reignites 'Circular AI' Fears — Dow Rallies on Coca-Cola and Boeing Earnings

A Blue-Chip Rotation Masks a Deepening Chip Selloff

Nvidia's $250 Billion OpenAI Financing Push Sends the Nasdaq 100 Into Correction

• Nvidia is reportedly weighing a guarantee of up to $250 billion to backstop financing for a massive OpenAI data-center project in southern Ohio, and may separately help finance OpenAI's purchase of $350 billion worth of Nvidia chips — an arrangement Axios described as "you buy from me, I invest in you, and everything's fine unless one of us has a problem, in which case both of us have a problem." Nvidia shares fell roughly 4.5% on the news, and credit-default swaps on Nvidia's bonds recorded their sharpest intraday jump since they began trading in November.
• The Nasdaq 100 officially slipped into correction territory Tuesday, down more than 10% from its June peak, as mounting concern over the sustainability of AI infrastructure spending and rising competition from China spread across the AI-hardware complex.
• Memory-chip names led the slide: SanDisk (SNDK) has plunged roughly 50-55% from its June peak over about 25 trading days, and SK Hynix is down nearly 47% from its own June high, as investors grew concerned the AI-memory rally had become "overcrowded after a prolonged run."
• Deutsche Bank strategist Jim Reid pointed to a second headwind: reports that China is advancing deep ultraviolet (DUV) lithography machine development, which threatens to intensify long-term competition in memory-chip supply just as AI infrastructure spending faces fresh scrutiny.

Defensive Dividend Payers Rally as Money Rotates Out of AI-Linked Chips

• Semiconductor and memory stocks bore the brunt of the selloff: Micron Technology (MU) fell ▼ 9.82%, Lam Research (LRCX) ▼ 9.73%, AMD ▼ 9.08%, Applied Materials (AMAT) ▼ 8.53%, and Intel (INTC) ▼ 6.61%.
• Defensive and dividend-paying names led the Dow higher instead: Accenture (ACN) jumped ▲ 7.80%, Sherwin-Williams (SHW) gained ▲ 7.05%, and Coca-Cola (KO) rose ▲ 6.77% after posting its fifth straight quarterly earnings beat and raising full-year guidance.
• American Tower (AMT) added ▲ 6.00% and Philip Morris International (PM) gained ▲ 5.56%, while Boeing (BA) posted stronger-than-expected free cash flow of $631 million against an expected outflow — even as the plane maker reported a wider per-share loss tied to Air Force One program charges.
• McDonald's, Procter & Gamble, Verizon, and Johnson & Johnson also advanced as investors leaned into classic, lower-volatility names ahead of Wednesday's Fed decision and this week's Big Tech earnings.

Accenture, Sherwin-Williams, and Coca-Cola Lead the S&P 500

• Accenture (ACN) led S&P 500 gainers, up ▲ 7.80%, followed by Sherwin-Williams (SHW) ▲ 7.05% as both stocks rallied on the day's shift toward classic, earnings-driven names.
• Coca-Cola (KO) climbed ▲ 6.77% to notch its fifth straight quarterly beat, with volume growth outpacing forecasts and management raising full-year guidance.
• American Tower (AMT) rose ▲ 6.00% and Philip Morris International (PM) added ▲ 5.56% to round out the S&P 500's top five gainers.
• The rally was concentrated in dividend-paying, lower-volatility sectors — a mirror image of the chip and memory names that dominated Tuesday's losers list.

The Dow Outperforms as the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Slip

• The Dow Jones Industrial Average led index gains, rising ▲ 0.69% to 52,571.06, while the S&P 500 eased ▼ 0.10% to 7,405.47 and the Nasdaq Composite fell ▼ 0.80% to 24,732.89. The Russell 2000 slipped ▼ 0.51% to 2,932.91.
• Oil extended Monday's decline, with WTI crude down ▼ 1.48% and Brent crude off ▼ 2.00%, as diplomatic signals between Washington and Tehran raised hopes of easing Middle East tensions.
• The 10-year Treasury yield held near 4.62% as traders positioned for the Federal Reserve's two-day policy meeting, which began Tuesday and concludes Wednesday with a decision widely expected to hold the federal funds rate in its current 3.50%-3.75% range.
• The Conference Board's consumer confidence index fell to 90.8 in July, reflecting softer labor-market perceptions among consumers even as equity markets showed a mixed, rotation-driven session.

What to Watch the Rest of the Week

• The Federal Reserve announces its rate decision Wednesday, July 29, with markets widely expecting the central bank to hold its benchmark rate in the 3.50%-3.75% range for a fifth straight meeting.
• Microsoft and Meta Platforms report earnings after the close Wednesday, July 29 — investors will parse Microsoft's Azure commentary on supporting OpenAI's products and Meta's AI training infrastructure buildout for clarity on whether AI capital spending is accelerating, stabilizing, or showing diminishing returns.
• Apple and Amazon report Thursday, July 30, with focus on whether Apple's on-device AI strategy is translating into hardware demand and whether AWS can maintain its cloud-growth trajectory.
• SK Hynix reports earnings tonight in Asia trading, offering an early read on memory-chip demand and pricing just hours after Tuesday's steep selloff in SanDisk and other memory names.
• Follow-through in the chip and memory complex is the key swing factor — watch whether the Nasdaq 100's correction deepens or stabilizes, and whether Nvidia's $250 billion OpenAI financing plan advances further.