Chipmakers slide after Samsung's big investment

Micron Technologies (MU.O) was leading a slide in the PHLX semiconductor index .SOX on Monday after Samsung (005930.KS) unveiled plans to spend $14.7 billion on a new chip facility.

Samsung's move marks a heavy push toward its semiconductor business to bolster profits as its smartphone dominance dwindles.

Shares of Micron were down 5.3 percent in early afternoon trading, on track for their largest daily percentage decline in more than a month. However, the stock's intrinsic valuation was already 30.5 percent below StarMine projections at its close on Friday, based on forward five-year earnings growth expectations.

The SOX index was down 1 percent.

Chipmaker Toshiba Corp (6502.T) fell 2.6 percent overnight in Tokyo and SK Hynix Inc (000660.KS) lost 5.1 percent in Seoul.

Looking at the broader market, energy and consumer discretionary shares were weighing the most on the S&P 500 with the benchmark index struggling against technical resistance at its 50-day moving average in the 1,975 area.

Index snapshot at 12:03 EDT:

* S&P 500 .SPX was falling 4.67 points, or 0.24 percent.

* Nasdaq Comp .IXIC was losing 20.91 points, or 0.47 percent.

* Dow industrials .DJI was dropping 25.63 points, or 0.15 percent.

* Russell 2000 .TOY was falling 8.11 points, or 0.73 percent.

* S&P MidCap .IDX was dropping 3.49 points, or 0.26 percent.

* S&P SmallCap .SPCY was losing 4.49 points, or 0.71 percent.