SOXL Sinks To 6-Month Low As Nasdaq Slides Amid Oil Surge: Trump Blames Iran, But Wells Fargo Says Huang’s Comments Spooked Markets

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Trump accused Iran of deliberately pushing oil prices higher ahead of the U.S. midterm elections, while Brent crude futures rose above $111 a barrel.

  • SOXL dropped to a six-month low, while SMH, SOXX and DRAM all hit fresh three-month lows.
  • Wells Fargo said Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang’s comments about limited capital for neocloud providers were adding to concerns about credit availability.
  • CoreWeave shares fell to a fresh 17-month low, falling below $60 for the second time this week.

U.S. President Donald Trump blamed Iran on Thursday for the surge in oil prices as a purposeful ploy ahead of the U.S. midterm elections. 

In a post on Truth Social, he said Iran was making up “fake hits” and that the supply of oil coming through the Strait of Hormuz is more than “even prior to the beginning of the conflict.”

@realDonaldtrump/Truth Social

Brent crude oil futures expiring December rose 2.3% to over $111 per barrel at the time of writing, while West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures expiring December gained 1.4%, trading at around $98.50 per barrel.

While the SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF (DIA) remained flat in midday trade, the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY) was down over 1%, and the Nasdaq-100 tracking Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) plummeted over 2%. 

The technology selloff was particularly sharp in semiconductors. QQQ was among the top trending tickers on Stocktwits at the time of writing, alongside Direxion Daily Semiconductor Bull 3X Shares (SOXL), which fell to a six-month low. SOXL shares fell over 16% in midday trade, dropping to levels last seen in April. 

SOXL price performance year-to-date on October 22 as of 12:00 p.m. ET. | Source: TradingView

Nvidia CEO’s Funding Comments Add To AI Concerns

According to Wells Fargo, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang’s comments around the scarcity of capital for neocloud funding is “spooking markets and reigniting the concerns around the capital markets on the credit side being full from a risk appetite standpoint.” 

In an interview with CNBC, Huang said the problem for neoclouds is funding, not customers. “If you look at the fundamentals, the demand for the neoclouds is off the charts. Their capabilities are extraordinary, and so what is missing in the middle is the working capital to fuel that growth, to fund that growth,” he stated.

According to him, capital is falling short because so many AI sectors are competing for it. NVDA stock fell over 3.8% in midday trade amid the selloff. On Stocktwits, retail sentiment around the AI bellwether remained in ‘bullish’ territory.

Semiconductor ETFs Hit Three-Month Lows

Shares of VanEck Semiconductor ETF (SMH) fell around 4.8%, iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX) tumbled nearly 5.5%, and Roundhill ETF Trust – Roundhill Memory ETF (DRAM) dropped almost 6%. All three hit fresh three-month lows.

SMH, SOXX, DRAM price performance over the past 3 months on October 22 as of 12:00 p.m. ET. | Source: Koyfin

Coherent (COHR), Entegris (ENTG), Lam Research (LRCX), and Lattice Semiconductor (LSCC) led the slide in semiconductors with a double-digit drop. 

Among the neocloud stocks, Coreweave (CRWV) hit a fresh 17-month low. CRWV stock dropped nearly 9% to below $60 for the second time this week. Meanwhile, Iren (IREN) hit a fresh 13-month low, dropping below $25.

Read also: SPOT Stock Hits 10-Month High Despite Q3 Earnings Miss: Co-CEO Says Spotify ‘Is Now An Agent,’ Brushes Off AI Churn Fears

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