The semiconductor sector hit a six-week low on Wednesday, chipping away at related exchange traded funds (ETFs).
A chip industry tracker cut its global sales outlook for the year to 4.3% from 7.7%, reports Tomi Kilgore for Forbes. The Semiconductor Industry Association cited continuing price pressure from strong competition in memory chips as the reason for the lowered outlook.
Semiconductors HOLDRs ETF (SMH) lost 2.9% in trading, and is down 4.7% year-to-date. All 18 of the fund’s holdings lost on Wednesday, and 13 of them were down 2% or more.
Hit especially hard were Micron Technology Inc. (MU), KLA-Tencor Corp. (KLAC) and Intel (INTC). Intel became the subject of an anticompetitive practices investigation earlier this month, reports Melinda Peer for Market Scan.
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