Bitcoin tracked the Nasdaq as chips had their worst day since 2020

The PHLX Semiconductor Index fell 12.25% on Thursday, its second-worst day in Yahoo Finance data going back to 1994. Only 16 March 2020 was worse.S-Curve analysis of Yahoo Finance, Coinbase and Hyperliquid data. The median S&P 500 stock lost 2.27%. Most of Thursday’s story sits in the gap between them.

The Nasdaq Composite fell 5.52% to 24,315 and the S&P 500 fell 4.36% to 7,353.73, each index’s worst day since 4 April 2025. Bitcoin lost 4.95% between the two New York closes, ending at $76,085, while gold futures rose 0.52%.

The index fell harder than its stocks

The selling was wide: 427 of 500 current S&P 500 members fell and 73 rose. It was far less deep than the index suggested. SPY, which weights stocks by size, fell 4.41%. RSP, which holds them equally, fell 2.89%. Of the 79 days SPY has dropped at least 3% since RSP began in 2003, only 6 October 2008 showed a wider gap. The median technology stock lost 8.14%, against 0.24% for utilities and 0.31% for consumer staples. RSP closed 2.9% below its record close.

Options told the same story. The VIX jumped 68.1% to 27.92, yet that is the lowest close on any of the 36 days since 1990 when the S&P 500 fell this much. The median close on those days was 50.7. The VIX also started from 16.61, the calmest prior close of the group.

Winners fell hardest, but only in tech

Nomura strategist Charlie McElligott wrote “They’re shooting the generals” and, according to Yahoo Finance, put the selling down to hedge funds locking in profits before year end, not to a sudden turn in fundamentals.‘They’re shooting the generals’: AI trade stocks drop as hedge funds rush to protect 2026 gains. That can be tested. Rank the index by 2026 gain through Wednesday and split it into ten groups of 50. The top group, up a median 65.8%, fell 5.36%. The bottom group, down 29.1%, fell 1.94%. The test uses today’s index members, so companies dropped from the S&P 500 this year are missing.

The pattern depends on one sector. Twenty of the top 50 are technology stocks. Take technology out, re-rank, and the top group fell 2.59% against 2.28% for the bottom group, with no steady slope between them. Outside tech, the rush out of the year’s winners barely showed up on Thursday.

These winners were also already falling. Ranked on the prior 100 sessions rather than the calendar year, the best tenth of the index lost 2.24% on Thursday and the worst tenth lost 7.65%. The last time chips fell this hard, on 5 June, it ran the other way: the best tenth lost 6.63%, the worst 0.23% and the median stock 0.17%. June hit the strongest recent performers. November hit stocks already sliding, which fits McElligott’s warning that “we are approaching the dreaded ‘Round Trip’ levels in some trades”. The semiconductor index lost 21.8% in five sessions and closed 38.4% below its 22 June record. Its 2026 gain shrank from 45% to 27.2% in one session.

Prices show where the selling went, not why. Yahoo Finance reported analysts pointing to “a potential slowdown in AI data center build-outs following a Democratic sweep”. AMD chief executive Lisa Su told Yahoo Finance the market can be “a little bit short-sighted”.AMD CEO Lisa Su sees AI becoming ‘essential to every aspect of our lives’.

Bitcoin moved with the Nasdaq

Bitcoin was no 2026 winner. It was already down 8.5% for the year on Wednesday, so a rush to lock in gains is an unlikely reason for its fall. Timing points to stocks. Coinbase prices held above $80,000 until 12:00 UTC, then hit a low of $75,431 within ninety minutes of the 14:30 UTC US open.

The 30-session correlation between daily moves in bitcoin and the Nasdaq reached 0.82, the highest since the series begins in 2023, against an average of 0.38. Bitcoin has fallen on 10 of the 13 days since the start of 2023 when the Nasdaq dropped at least 3%.

Forced selling added to the move. Cointelegraph, citing CoinGlass, reported “nearly $500 million” liquidated in the first hour of US trading and a 24-hour total nearing $850 million at the time it wrote.Bitcoin Targets $75K as Crypto Liquidates $500M Around Stocks Sell-Off. Hyperliquid’s bitcoin funding rate barely changed, averaging 0.0093% per eight hours over the last day against 0.0089% over 20 days, so the perpetual futures market showed no sign of a rush to one side.

Listed crypto companies fell about twice as far as the coin: Coinbase 9.69%, Strategy 9.29% and Robinhood 10.32%. One crypto-specific worry arrived the same day. Stifel’s Brian Gardner said of the Clarity Act, “It’s off the table for the lame duck session”.Bitcoin tumbles below $76,000 as post-election stock rally fades.