(Il Sole 24 Ore Radiocor) - Milano, 17 lug - US shares opened broadly lower as chip stocks sold off around the world amid concerns over AI spending.

In early trading, Intel was losing 4.22%, Micron was 2.67% lower and Nvidia was down 3.10%.

Major indices are heading for weekly losses as shares in semiconductor producers and adjacent companies sold off also in the previous session, weighing on the broader market.

While a disappointing third quarter forecast from Netflix put the broader tech sector under pressure. The streaming giant was down 10.75%.

Since the start of the week, the Dow Jones Industrial Average and Nasdaq are down 0.2% while the S&P 500 is off by 0.6%.

A further escalation of tensions in the Middle East, with the US and Iran exchanging strikes for a sixth consecutive day, also weighed on sentiment.

On the data front, import prices unexpectedly rose in June as a drop in energy costs was more than offset by a jump in costs of goods from China.

And housing starts rose far more than expected, posting a 19% jump in June.

While industrial production rose slightly less than expected 0.1% month on month in June.

Investors now look ahead to consumer sentiment data at 1400 GMT.

A few minutes after the opening bell, the Dow Jones was losing 466.76 points, or 0.89%, at 52,086.21 points.

The S&P 500 was 91.70 points, or 1.22%, lower at 7,442.07 points.

The Nasdaq was dropping 491.65 points, or 1.90%, at 25,390.30.

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(RADIOCOR) 17-07-26 15:39:52 (0441) 5 NNNN