U.S. futures slipped on Wednesday as chipmakers came under pressure following a strong first half of the year. Futures tied to the Nasdaq 100 dropped 0.9%, while S&P 500 futures shed 0.3%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 181 points, or 0.3%. Micron plunged 7% in premarket trading on Wednesday, although it was still up around 300% in the year to date. Sandisk shed nearly 9%, losing some steam after gaining more than 850% in the first half of 2026. Nvidia and Broadcom also fell roughly 2.5% and 2%, respectively. Their declines come as investors take profit on semiconductor stocks following a record-smashing first half of the year for the group. The VanEck Semiconductor ETF (SMH) gained 82% in the first six months of the year, marking its best first half since its inception in May, 2000. The major averages also closed out a strong first half. In the first six months of the year, the Dow climbed 8.9%, marking its best first-half performance since 2021. The broad market S&P 500 rose 9.6%, and the Nasdaq climbed 12.8%. The small-cap Russell 2000 surged nearly 22% to clinch its best first-half performance since 1991. The overall market’s outperformance in the first six months of 2026 was driven by a surge in chip and AI-related names, with Tuesday’s gains partly due to a rise in chip stocks. A record chip rally added $2 trillion in combined market capitalization to Micron, Intel, and Advanced Micro Devices in the second quarter of 2026. Heading into the second half of the year, Paul Hickey, Bespoke Investment Group co-founder, said that he still likes the sector, but it may be getting a bit too hot. “Over the long term, we still like the semis, but I wouldn’t be aggressive towards it here. This bull market is an AI-driven bull market; that’s the theme. If this bull market is going to continue, it’s going to be led by tech and probably semis, but they don’t have to beat consistently, and you can’t go in that kind of pattern for good,” he said on CNBC’s “Closing Bell: Overtime” Tuesday afternoon. “So I think in that respect they’ve gotten a little bit…extended. So I would maybe take a breather here.” On Wednesday, Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh will speak at the European Central Bank Forum on Central Banking in Sintra, Portugal. Since taking the helm, Warsh has set out to remake the U.S. central bank through the adoption of new task forces that will comprehensively review the Fed’s current strategies to define modern monetary policy. Traders have also been anticipating that the central bank could be poised to hike interest rates in the ongoing battle against inflation. U.S. Treasury yields rose on Wednesday as investors weighed more data and looked for clues on the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy path. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note—the main benchmark for mortgages, auto loans, and credit card debt—was 7 basis points higher at 4.493% at 9:12 a.m. ET. The shorter-term 2-year note added 5.4 basis points to trade at around 4.193%, while the yield on the 30-year Treasury was up by 8 basis points at 4.982%. Asia markets closed mixed on Wednesday, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 ending the session 0.59% higher at 70,474.96, while South Korea’s Kospi declined 2.04% to 8,303.41. Australia’s benchmark S&P/ASX 200 was down 0.64% to 8,722.90, while the mainland’s CSI 300 declined 0.41% to 4,958.98. Oil prices were slightly lower on Wednesday, after Iran said it would not meet with U.S. delegates for talks in Qatar, amplifying concern about the peace process. Brent crude futures, the international benchmark, traded 0.9% lower at $72.27 per barrel at around 7:42 a.m. ET. The contract dropped roughly 21% last month, notching its largest monthly decline since March 2020. U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures fell 0.9% to $68.91, erasing earlier gains. The contract dropped more than 20% in June, reflecting its worst monthly performance since late 2021. Gold was little changed on Wednesday, as rising U.S. Treasury yields ​and growing bets that the ​Federal Reserve will raise ​interest rates pressured the non-yielding metal. Spot gold was up just 0.5% at $4,026.651 per ounce, after touching its lowest level since last November at $3,942.99 in the previous ⁠session. ‌U.S. gold futures for August delivery lost 0.1% ⁠to $4,035.50 per ounce. The yellow metal on Tuesday recorded its first quarterly loss since January 2024. A stronger U.S. ​dollar makes bullion less affordable for overseas buyers.