Tech Weekly: Contradictory Peace Signals Whipsaw Markets

This week's tech sector performance

Tech investors hit another wall this week, juggling fresh AI headlines with a worsening backdrop in geopolitics and credit markets.

The week started on a hopeful note, with markets rebounding on speculation that the conflict with Iran might be easing, fueling a rally in big tech and crypto on Monday (March 23); however, firmer messaging from both the White House and Tehran quickly sent oil and bonds back up, snuffing out the early week risk rally.

Within tech, software names experienced another glut after reports on Tuesday (March 24) that Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) Web Services is developing AI agents to automate tasks in sales, business‑development and cybersecurity teams, where the company recently cut hundreds of jobs.

Funding conditions were also a focus this week, with Ares and Apollo Global Management (NYSE:APO) both capping quarterly withdrawals from key private credit funds at about 5 percent of assets after redemption requests surged, effectively trapping more capital. Barclays (NYSE:BCS) also said it is scaling back asset‑based lending to smaller borrowers after losses linked to the collapses of Market Financial Solutions and Tricolor Holdings, another sign that leverage is getting harder to come by for borrowers outside the top tier. For the tech ecosystem, that combination points to a slower, more selective capital pipeline for everything from late‑stage private companies to smaller infrastructure plays.

Memory chipmakers were also hit after Google's (NASDAQ:GOOGL) TurboQuant paper outlined a way to compress AI key‑value caches by around six times without a material hit to accuracy, sparking a sharp selloff in DRAM and HBM‑linked names like Sandisk (NASDAQ:SNDK) and Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC)

Analysts were quick to argue that cheaper, more efficient inference often leads to more usage and ultimately higher aggregate demand, but the first move this week was a classic de‑rating of anything tied to the memory intensity that’s been driving surges in these stocks.

“This whole scare around is headlines, and this is a perfect example of exactly where we are in the market right now, because it’s so extremely narrative driven,” explained Nicholas Mersch, a portfolio manager at Purpose Investments.

“As soon as Google came out and said, Hey, we found an algorithmic breakthrough that uses less memory, all these names just tanked. It is a little to do a little bit as well to do with the overall ecosystem, more generally with geopolitical concerns, but when you narrow it down to these memory companies, they’re back up today. So really interesting in terms of the dynamics that we’re seeing in the overall marketplace being so knee-jerk based and very reactionary in terms of what kind of plug-in comes out.”

The Nasdaq Composite (INDEXNASDAQ:.IXIC) finished the week in the red for the fifth straight week, losing 4.76 percent from Monday’s open to close at 20,948.36.

3 tech stocks moving markets this week

1. Marvell Technology (NASDAQ:MRVL)

Marvell Technology was this week's top performer, finishing the week with gains of 6.73 percent.

2. Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG)

Diamondback Energy had performed well for the second week in a row, closing up 6.06 percent higher.

3. Arm Holdings (NASDAQ:ARM)

News of Arm Holding's forthcoming memory chip helped push the stock to weekly gains of 5.28 percent.

Top tech news of the week

• The US Justice Department charged Super Micro Computer (NASDAQ:SMCI) employees for illegally shipping US$2.5 billion in advanced AI servers to China.

• During an event in Austin on Saturday, Elon Musk said Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) and SpaceX will collaborate to build a “Terafab” to design and manufacture semiconductors for both companies in Austin, near Tesla’s headquarters. The factory will eventually produce one series of chips tailored to projects including Tesla’s Cybercab and Optimus robot, and another for SpaceX. Additionally, The Information reported that SpaceX could file its long-awaited IPO by next week, according to a source with direct knowledge of the plans.

• Arm Holdings (NASDAQ:ARM) said it will begin selling its own chips, with Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) and OpenAI among the company’s first major customers.

• Health ring maker Oura has reportedly been interviewing bankers to advise on an IPO that could take place as soon as this year, according to a person with direct knowledge of discussions.

• Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) and NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA) announced the “AI for nuclear” initiative at the CERAWeek energy industry conference, a collaborative effort to accelerate nuclear power buildup. Microsoft president and vice chair Brad Smith said that the two companies have created a solution “that hopefully will play an important role in expanding the construction of nuclear power.”

• Global X launched the Global X NYSE 100 Index ETF (NYSE:NYSX, TSX:NYSX), a new product designed to provide Canadian investors with targeted exposure to the 100 leading technology and tech-enabled growth companies listed on all three major US exchanges, including international names with US-listed ADRs like Alibaba (NYSE:BABA) and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (NYSE:TSM). The ETF began trading on the TSX and the NYSE on Thursday.

• Meta said it would increase its investment in an El Paso, Texas, data center from US$1.5 billion to more than US$10 billion.

• Sources for The Information say Anthropic executives are discussing a possible IPO as soon as Q4, adding that potential bankers expect the company to raise more than US$60 billion.

• Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) announced four new partners - Bosch, Cirrus Logic, TDK and Qnity Electronics - to its domestic supply chain through its American Manufacturing Program, committing US$400 million in spending for these programs through 2030. Sources for Bloomberg also said the company plans to let outside AI chatbots integrate with its Siri digital assistant.

• ShieldAI, a maker of AI-powered drones, announced on Thursday its plan to raise US$1.5 billion in Series G funding at a US$12.7 billion valuation. A portion of the proceeds will help fund the company’s planned acquisition of defense software company Aechelon Technology.

• Senator Bernie Sanders and Representative Alexandria Ocasio‑Cortez introduced legislation that would pause new data center construction and major upgrades until Congress puts AI safeguards in place, including rules on labor and energy use. The bill is unlikely to pass in its current form, but the news highlights the political resistance to the scale and side effects of the data‑center build‑out that underpins the entire AI investment story.

• Quantum computing firm Xanadu Quantum Technologies (TSX:XNDU) began trading on the TSX on Thursday, opening at US$14, forty percent above its original US$10 SPAC price.

Tech ETF performance

Tech exchange-traded funds (ETFs) track baskets of major tech stocks, meaning their performance helps investors gauge the overall performance of the niches they cover.

This week, the iShares Semiconductor ETF (NASDAQ:SOXX) declined by 4.73 percent, while the Invesco PHLX Semiconductor ETF (NASDAQ:SOXQ) lost 4.83 percent.

The VanEck Semiconductor ETF (NASDAQ:SMH) also decreased by 4.75 percent.

Tech news to watch next week

AI‑driven chip sentiment will be on investors’ radars against a heavy macro and geopolitical backdrop next week, entering Q2. Markets in the US and Canada will be closed for Good Friday (April 4).

Global inflation and productivity releases, plus US activity and sentiment data, could shift expectations for the Fed’s path and, by extension, discount rates for long‑duration tech.

Positioning and valuation jitters in AI and broader tech remain a theme, keeping markets on high alert for any guidance revisions or management commentary.