NASDAQ opens higher as chip stocks drive gains after brutal selloff

The Nasdaq Composite bounced back on September 29 after getting roughed up the day before, with semiconductor stocks doing most of the heavy lifting. Nasdaq-100 futures climbed between 0.2% and 0.4% in early trading, a modest but welcome reversal after the index shed nearly a full percentage point in the prior session.

The September 28 close of 26,820.38 represented a 248-point drop, or 0.92%, driven largely by rising bond yields and a broad tech selloff. Premarket activity surged not just for Nvidia but across the semiconductor space. Micron Technology, Broadcom, and AMD all saw elevated trading volumes as investors rotated back into the sector following the previous day’s indiscriminate selling.

Nvidia plays the buyback card

The star of the rebound was Nvidia, which announced a $150 billion increase to its share repurchase program. Buybacks reduce the number of shares outstanding, which tends to push earnings per share higher even if the underlying business stays flat.

Just a week earlier, on September 22, the Nasdaq had hit a record close of 27,244.28, riding a wave of AI-related enthusiasm that has defined much of 2026’s market narrative. The pullback that followed looked more like profit-taking than any fundamental deterioration in the chip sector’s outlook.

The bond market complicates things

The catalyst for September 28’s selloff wasn’t a crisis in tech. It was the bond market flexing its muscles. The 10-year Treasury yield climbed to approximately 5.26%, a level not seen in roughly 19 years, before easing slightly.

Higher yields make risk assets less attractive through simple math. When you can earn north of 5% on government bonds, the premium investors demand for holding volatile tech stocks goes up. Valuations that looked reasonable at 4% yields start looking stretched at 5.26%.

What the semiconductor rally signals

The broader context for this bounce is a semiconductor sector that has been one of 2026’s dominant market themes. Capital expenditure on AI infrastructure, from data centers to custom chips to networking equipment, has driven sustained demand for the products these companies make.

For the broader Nasdaq, the resilience of chip stocks matters disproportionately. Semiconductor companies carry outsized weight in the index, meaning their performance can swing the composite in either direction.