US stock markets opened lower on Tuesday, with the Nasdaq Composite index shedding over 200 points. Semiconductor stocks were broadly lower as investors appeared to be pulling back from artificial intelligence-related shares once more. Oil prices moved higher.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 7.75 points, or 0.01%, to 53,048.16. The Nasdaq Composite dropped 249.70 points, or 0.96%, to 25,871.46. The S&P 500 index declined 23.17 points, or 0.31%, to 7,514.26.

During Tuesday's early session, West Texas Intermediate crude oil surpassed $70 per barrel, rising 2.12% for the day.

Micron Technology, Inc. shares fell 6.2%, while KLA Corporation, Marvell Technology, Inc., Broadcom Inc., and Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. also traded lower.

The downward pressure on US stocks began in the Asia-Pacific session, following a near 5% drop in South Korea's KOSPI index. This decline was driven by a nearly 7% fall in shares of memory chip maker Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. The company reported a significant jump in second-quarter profit, but concerns over spending and demand overshadowed the positive result. In Europe, the Stoxx 600 index was down 0.1%.

Adam Crisafulli of Vital Knowledge wrote, "The market's reaction to Samsung's results highlights one of the biggest risks facing the market in the coming weeks: Q2 earnings may be quite strong in absolute terms... but unlike the Q1 earnings season, expectations are very optimistic now (and the S&P 500 is about 1,000 points higher than it was before Q1 results), meaning the bar is quite high."

According to sources, DeepSeek is developing its own AI chips, which also weighed on market sentiment. This move could potentially reduce the company's reliance on semiconductors from firms like NVIDIA Corporation and Samsung. Shares of NVIDIA Corporation were down over 2% in early trading.

Meanwhile, SpaceX edged lower ahead of its inclusion in the Nasdaq 100 index on Tuesday.

Tuesday's early weakness followed a session where Wall Street closed broadly higher, pushing the Dow above the 53,000-point milestone for the first time. The 30-stock index also closed above that level. Technology stocks led the gains, with the Nasdaq Composite closing up over 1% on a rebound in semiconductor shares. The S&P 500 also closed 0.7% higher.

"It makes sense that the major indices are hitting new highs," said Richard Bernstein, Chief Investment Officer of Richard Bernstein Advisors. "Not only is earnings growth strong, but it is also broad-based, and that is spreading through the market."

Investors will be watching for US trade deficit economic data released on Tuesday morning. No major corporate earnings reports are scheduled for the day.