NEW YORK, March 9, 2026, 10:33 EDT
The Invesco QQQ Trust slipped early Monday, sliding 1.34% to $591.74 by mid-morning in New York as oil prices shot past $100 a barrel. The AI-driven rally that recently lifted U.S. stocks faded, with traders retreating from tech after shrugging off earlier war headlines. 1
This shift stands out: QQQ serves as an easy entry point for investors looking to tap into the Nasdaq-100’s leading AI-driven stocks. The ETF mirrors the 100 largest non-financial names on Nasdaq, with ETF Database reporting that nearly half—47.69%—of its assets are concentrated in the top 10 holdings. QQQ trades at 31.89 times earnings, noticeably higher than the category average of 20.55. 2
Money was already moving out the door ahead of Monday’s tumble. According to ETF Channel data cited by Nasdaq.com, QQQ saw approximately $4.0 billion in net outflows during the week of March 5. ETF Database puts another $810.16 million heading out over the past five days. Invesco’s cheaper QQQM, which holds about $72.2 billion, recorded $165.15 million in outflows in that stretch and dropped 1.35% Monday. 3
Macro headwinds aren’t letting up. Wall Street’s major indexes slipped out of the gate Monday, after a Reuters report pointed to surging crude and renewed inflation jitters. Jefferies economist Mohit Kumar flagged that rates markets are already working off the assumption oil holds above $100 for a stretch—conditions, he said, that should be pushing equities down further. F/m Investments CEO Alex Morris called $100 oil an “emotional trigger” for U.S. investors just last week. Now, that threshold’s been breached. 4
Still, the AI story behind QQQ isn’t fading. Last week, Broadcom projected over $100 billion in AI chip sales for next year. Reuters noted Alphabet, Microsoft, Amazon, and Meta are all on track to pour upwards of $600 billion into AI infrastructure this year. With numbers like that, it’s clearer why investors rotate right back into the same group of big tech names when markets regain footing. 5
Jitters are starting to show. “The oil shock is big enough to make investors worry about a broader macro hit,” said Charu Chanana, chief investment strategist at Saxo Bank, on Monday. Even so, dip buyers haven’t disappeared. “Retail investors are buying at low prices on expectations that stock prices will recover fast when the crisis goes by,” said Huh Jae-hwan, analyst at Eugene Investment Securities in Seoul. 6
Bears run the risk that this surge in flows fades just as fast as it arrived. Reuters, on Friday, noted that options and futures desks are still pricing the crude shock as a fleeting disruption—stress remains mostly up front on the oil curve. Brian E. Kinsella, a former Goldman Sachs energy pro, told Reuters the market’s leaning toward a temporary, logistical hiccup instead of anything bigger. Should oil settle down soon, that recent QQQ dip could end up just a hedge, not a sign of traders backing away from AI. 7
Back in December, Invesco switched QQQ from a unit investment trust to an open-end ETF, dropped its total expense ratio to 0.18%, and gave it the ability to reinvest income. The fee cut, though, doesn’t change the core of the fund: QQQ still oversees about $403.2 billion, and its 100-stock roster keeps masking the reality—performance leans heavily on just a few AI heavyweights. 8
