The US stock market on December 17th was a scene of widespread despair. The S&P 500 and Dow Jones indices have fallen for four consecutive days, and the Nasdaq index plummeted by 1.81% on that day, with particularly severe declines.

The technology sector bore the brunt. Leading companies like Tesla and Broadcom each fell more than 4%, Nvidia followed closely with nearly a 4% drop, and Google was not spared, declining over 3%. High-growth sectors such as energy storage and semiconductors also led the decline, clearly reflecting market concerns — expectations for AI investment returns are beginning to waver, directly triggering a wave of sell-offs.

Interestingly, while tech stocks are declining, oil and gas, energy, and precious metals sectors are rising against the trend. This indicates that safe-haven funds are quietly shifting from high-risk growth assets to more stable defensive assets. Chinese concept stocks also couldn't stay unaffected; the Nasdaq Golden Dragon China Index closed down 0.73%, showing that market risk aversion is clearly spreading across the board.