A bad day for chipmakers just got worse.

Semiconductor shares in the S&P 500 Index plunged more than 5 percent, the most in two years, after a report that Apple Inc. plas to start using its chips as soon as 2020 rather than processors made by from Intel Corp. All 15 members of the group lost at least 3 percent, with Intel down 7.7 percent, its biggest rout since January 2016.

The group was already lower by 3 percent before the Bloomberg News report, as a renewed tumble in technology shares led broader market measures to the worst day since the early February selloff. Chipmakers, which set a record just three weeks ago, have now lost 12 percent amid an exodus of cash from a popular semiconductors exchange-traded fund last month.

“This is part of the tech unwind story that was exacerbated with Apple Inc.’s move toward eliminating parts of the food chain in favor of doing it themselves,” said Josh Lukeman, head of ETF market making for the Americas at Credit Suisse AG.

Investors pulled almost a half a billion dollars — the most on record — from the VanEck Vectors Semiconductors fund in March. The fund, which goes by the ticker SMH, had attracted record inflows a month earlier.

While Intel pushed the group deeper into the red, there were other signs of trouble in a group that had rallied more than 50 percent in the prior two years.

Nvidia Corp., the ETF’s fifth largest holding at 5.1 percent, is down almost 9 percent in two weeks. It more than tripled in 2016 and doubled again last year. Micron TechnologyInc., another sector heavyweight, has lost 18 percent since March 20, after it gave a disappointing sales forecast for third-quarter. Its dizzying pace of revenue growth had fueled its rally.

美国股市芯片板块的状况可谓雪上加霜。

因有媒体报道称苹果公司计划最早2020年开始使用自产芯片，取代英特尔公司（Intel Corp.）的处理器，标准普尔500指数中的半导体板块下跌超过5%，为两年来最大跌幅。该板块中的15只成分股下跌至少3%，其中英特尔下跌了7.7%，是2016年1月以来的最大跌幅。

在彭博新闻社的报道发表之前，科技股再次下挫导致大盘指数创2月初抛售潮以来的最大跌幅，在此背景下，半导体板块已经下跌了3%。三周前刚刚创新高的芯片板块，现在已经跌去12%，期间一家著名半导体股交易所交易基金在上个月遭遇了大量资金流出。

瑞士信贷集团（Credit Suisse AG）美洲区ETF做市业务负责人约什·卢克曼说道：“这是科技股集中平仓趋势的一部分，而苹果公司淘汰部分食物链，改为自给自足，加剧了这个趋势。”

3月份，投资者从VanEck Vectors Semiconductors基金撤走近5亿美元资金，为历史之最。该基金（股票代码：SMH）前一个月刚刚吸引了创纪录的资金流入。

虽然英特尔的消息导致整个板块进一步下跌，但此前两年上涨逾50%的半导体板块还面临着其他问题。

在该ETF基金持仓比例（5.1%）排在第五位的英伟达公司（Nvidia Corp.），在两周内下跌近9%。英伟达股票在2016年上涨超过两倍，去年又翻了一番。另外一家行业巨头美光科技公司（Micron Technology Inc.）第三季度的销售预期令人失望，其股价自3月20日以来下跌了18%。美光科技令人炫目的收入增长速度曾刺激其股价大涨。（财富中文网）

译者：刘进龙/汪皓