Broadcom Drags Nasdaq While Dow and S&P 500 Rise
On August 19, 2026, the broader market saw gains with the S&P 500 rising by 0.59% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0.58%. However, the Nasdaq Composite lagged at a gain of just 0.39%, primarily due to its heavy weighting in technology stocks. Broadcom was responsible for much of the early weakness on the Nasdaq after falling nearly 4.7% following news that rival Marvell Technology secured a deeper custom-chip deal with Google, potentially threatening Broadcom's position as Google’s primary chip partner under an agreement through 2031. Despite this, broader market optimism helped recover some losses by midday. Meanwhile, the Dow saw mixed performance driven by both macroeconomic factors and company-specific news. Merck was a top performer due to promising late-stage trial results for its cancer vaccine co-developed with Moderna.
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Topics: Broadcom custom-chip deals Google Marvell Technology Nasdaq Composite