CalPERS tech trim rattles Wall Street early trade
On.cc · 1 SOURCESabout 3 hours ago2 MIN
Summary
U.S. equities extended their decline in early trading on Friday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average falling 764 points to 52,103, while the S&P 500 dropped 42 points to 7,621 and the Nasdaq slipped 32 points to 25,976. The move came after a report that CalPERS, the largest public employee pension fund in the United States, was reducing holdings in several large U.S. technology stocks and increasing private equity exposure to diversify equity risk across hundreds of companies. The report also pointed to tighter financing conditions for the technology sector, as OpenAI’s roughly US$30 billion fundraising talks reportedly entered the final stage with a reduced valuation target of US$1.25 trillion. Nvidia, meanwhile, said demand from emerging AI cloud providers remained extremely strong, but that insufficient operating capital had become a key bottleneck for data-centre expansion and chip purchases
Key Points
- In early Friday trading, the Dow fell 764 points to 52,103, the S&P 500 lost 42 points to 7,621, and the Nasdaq dropped 32 points to 25,976
- A UK media report said CalPERS was cutting stakes in several large U.S. technology companies and shifting more capital into private equity holdings
- As of the end of June, CalPERS had assets of US$637.1 billion, giving its portfolio moves added weight in market sentiment
- OpenAI’s talks to raise about US$30 billion were said to be in the final stage, with a valuation target lowered to US$1.25 trillion and a deal expected before next weekend
- Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang said AI cloud demand was very strong, but capital shortages were limiting new operators’ ability to build data centres and buy chips; Nvidia also joined an extension round for AI video start-up Higgsfield at a reported US$5.4 billion valuation
Why It Matters
For Hong Kong investors, the story matters because local portfolios and exchange-traded funds often track major U.S. technology names, so any rotation away from mega-cap tech can quickly feed into sentiment in Asia trading hours. It also underlines that even with strong AI demand, funding conditions remain crucial, which could affect valuations, fundraising appetite and supply-chain expectations tied to chips and data-centre expansion