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NYSE

The S&P 500 was lower on Tuesday as a tech sell-off that began during the prior session picked up steam overnight, with global markets in Asia routed as memory chip-related shares tumbled.

The broad market index fell 1.2%, while the Nasdaq Composite slid 1.8%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average traded around the flatline.

The major averages came off their lows as tech stocks outside of chipmakers such as Microsoft and Amazon as well as defensive stocks like Walmart, Procter & Gamble and Johnson & Johnson moved higher. Additionally, International Business Machines shares popped 4% following an upgrade to overweight at JPMorgan, while Sherwin-Williams and Merck saw gains as well.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq shed 1.3% in Monday's session, dragged down by shares of Alphabet primarily. The selling then picked up globally with South Korea's Kospi leading the region's losses. Memory chip leader SK Hynix, which has led a speculative AI frenzy in the country, closed down more than 12%. The South Korea benchmark, which is up 95% this year, was down almost 10%, while Japan's Nikkei 225 declined 3.55%, breaking eight sessions of gains.

U.S.-traded Micron Technology then followed suit, with the memory chipmaker down 10%. Sandisk fell 12% while components maker Seagate Technology also shed more than 6%. Intel pulled back 3%, while Advanced Micro Devices and Qualcomm lost 5% and 10%, respectively.

The State Street Technology Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLK) dropped 3%. The VanEck Semiconductor ETF (SMH) fell 6%. Meanwhile, SpaceX ticked up more than 1%.

Alphabet continued its losing ways, down more than 1% after a 5% down day on Monday tied to concerns about high-profile AI talent departures at the company.

"The AI beneficiaries are the sell-off, and I don't think they're expensive, but they're crowded," said Andrew Slimmon, a senior portfolio manager at Morgan Stanley Investment Management, on CNBC's "Squawk Box" Monday. "It's captured kind-of the zeitgeist of the momentum traders and when that happens, you're going to have sharp sell offs like we're having. I'd argue it's healthy."

European shares also fell sharply on Tuesday, with the pan-European Stoxx 600 closing down about 0.6%.

The Stoxx 600 Technology index led regional losses, with a decline of 3%. Dutch semiconductor equipment maker ASMI and chipmaker STMicroelectronics were among the biggest downward movers on the Stoxx 600.

Recent IPO Cerebras will report earnings after the bell Tuesday, while Micron will report results on Wednesday after the close.