The Nasdaq Composite closed June 23 down 2.21%, shedding 579.56 points to finish at 25,587.04. The S&P 500 dropped 1.44% to 7,365.47 on the same session. The Dow Jones Industrial Average barely moved, slipping just 0.09%, which tells you exactly where the pain was concentrated: technology.

Semiconductors took the hardest hit

The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index fell 7.9% on the day. The S&P 500 Information Technology sector fell 3.7%, dragging the broader index lower even as other corners of the market held relatively steady.

Market participants have now priced in an 85% probability of at least one Federal Reserve rate hike, up from 60% just the prior week. That shift in expectations, compressed into a matter of days, explains a lot about the velocity of the selloff.

Crypto followed tech straight down

Bitcoin dropped 2.5% to $62,300. Ether fell more than 4% to $1,650. And across the altcoin landscape, $717 million in liquidations hit in a single session.

This session was not an isolated event. On June 5, the Nasdaq fell 4.18%, driven by similar headwinds from the semiconductor sector. Two significant tech-led selloffs within roughly three weeks suggest a pattern, not a one-off correction.

What this means for investors

The Fed rate hike probability moving from 60% to 85% in a single week is the most important number in this story. Higher interest rates make future money worth less today, and the companies most exposed are those with the largest gap between current earnings and the future profits investors are paying for today. A 7.9% single-day drop in the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index reflects that vulnerability being repriced in real time.

The $717 million in altcoin liquidations signals something worth watching. Large liquidation events tend to flush out the most leveraged positions in the market, which can create temporary stabilization as forced sellers exit, but can also trigger cascading selloffs if prices breach key technical levels and trigger additional margin calls.