The Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ), an ETF tracking the Nasdaq-100 index, plunged 5.08% in pre-market trading on Monday. This significant decline was driven by rising investor concerns over the emergence of China's DeepSeek AI model, which challenges the dominance of major US technology firms.
The broad market was also impacted, with the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) down 2.1% pre-market. Futures for the S&P 500, Dow Jones Industrial Average, and Nasdaq were all lower, reflecting the market's nervousness about the potential disruption from China's AI advancements.
The technology sector bore the brunt of the selloff, with the Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLK) falling 4.6% and semiconductor ETFs like SPDR S&P Semiconductor ETF (XSD) and iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX) declining around 4.5-4.8%. The emergence of DeepSeek has raised concerns about the competitive position of US tech giants, fueling the pre-market sell-off in QQQ and other tech-focused ETFs.
