Nasdaq, S&P 500 Futures Slip As Korea Chip Shock Dents AI Memory Heavyweights Ahead Of Fed Decision: Why NVDA, SNDK, MU, APLD, SPCX, SLS, CAPR Are In Focus

• The Kospi cratered nearly 11%, marking its third-worst single-day drop in history, intensifying the global semiconductor rout, dragging chip stocks lower. 
• The Federal Reserve begins its two-day FOMC meeting today even as elevated core inflation, persistent tariffs, and sticky oil prices test Chairman Kevin Warsh’s data-dependent stance. 
• Boeing (BA), PayPal (PYPL), Coca-Cola (KO), Ford (F), Visa (V), and Bloom Energy (BE), are among companies reporting earnings today. 

U.S. stock futures were largely lower early Tuesday as a brutal selloff in South Korea’s technology-heavy market spilled over into global semiconductor stocks, while investors prepared for the start of the Federal Reserve’s two-day policy meeting. 

As of 4:00 a.m. ET, Nasdaq futures fell 1%, S&P 500 futures fell 0.3%, Dow futures gained 0.1%, and Russell 2000 futures were down 0.1%.

On Stocktwits, retail sentiment for the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY), an exchange-traded fund that tracks the S&P 500 Index, moderated to ‘bearish’ from ‘extremely bearish,’ while the Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ), which tracks the Nasdaq-100 Index, has moved to ‘extremely bearish’ from ‘bearish’ a day ago.

South Korea's benchmark KOSPI plunged as much as 11% intraday, its third-biggest decline on record, with heavyweight chipmakers Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix tumbling sharply amid fears that China’s advances in semiconductor manufacturing could intensify competition for global memory makers. It also follows the blockbuster debut of Chinese memory giant ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT) on the Shanghai exchange, which surged nearly 470% on day one to achieve a market cap rivaling global tech titans such as Intel. 

The leveraged South Korea ETF Direxion Daily South Korea Bull 3X Shares (KORU) plunged nearly 18%, while retail sentiment on Stocktwits remained ‘bearish.’

Trending Stocks To Watch

SanDisk (SNDK), Monday's worst-performing S&P 500 stock after an 11% decline, continued to slide in premarket trading. Nvidia, AMD, ASML, Micron and other AI and memory names also remained under pressure. On Monday, Nvidia also surrendered its crown as the world’s most valuable company after Apple reclaimed the top spot by market capitalization. 

Applied Digital (APLD): Shares rose over 1% in premarket trade after the AI data center developer reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter results and raised its $1 billion net operating income run-rate target to three years ahead of schedule. 

SpaceX (SPCX): Shares remained under pressure ahead of its first public earnings report on Aug. 4. Investors are also watching an Aug. 6 lock-up expiry that could release more than 900 million shares into the market. Cathie Wood's ARK Invest bought the dip again on Monday, despite the stock erasing over $1.2 trillion in market value since its June peak. 

Capricor Therapeutics (CAPR): The biotech fell another 3% in early premarket trade, after Monday's 65% collapse, driven by FDA briefing documents that raised fresh doubts over approval of its Duchenne muscular dystrophy therapy. Despite the selloff and renewed criticism from Martin Shkreli, retail sentiment has turned even more bullish on Stocktwits. 

Sellas Life Sciences (SLS): Shares fell over 1% in early premarket trade after the company lost a China arbitration dispute. However, many retail investors described the development as a "nothingburger," shifting attention back to the company's closely watched Phase 3 AML trial, which is nearing its final readout. 

Other tickers trending on Stocktwits at the time of writing included Yum Brands Inc (YUM), Palantir Technologies (PLTR), and Red Cat Holdings (RCAT). 

Other Catalysts To Watch

The two-day FOMC meeting begins Tuesday, with policymakers widely expected to keep interest rates unchanged. Fed Governor Christopher Waller recently warned he remains concerned about the elevated pace of core inflation. Meanwhile, nearly seven in ten respondents in a recent Stocktwits poll expect the Fed to leave rates unchanged this week, broadly aligning with Wall Street expectations. 

On the economic front, investors will be watching for the release of retail inventories and trade balance data later this morning. 

On the earnings front, Boeing (BA), PayPal (PYPL), Coca-Cola (KO), Royal Caribbean (RCL), SNDL (SNDL), among others, report before the bell. Ford (F), Visa (V), Enphase Energy (ENPH), Bloom Energy (BE), Tilray (TLRY), and more are set to report earnings after market close today. 

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