US sector ETFs mixed at open: semiconductors drop nearly 2%, healthcare and staples gain over 1%

The opening split is a defensive rotation: money moving out of semiconductors and regional banks and into healthcare and staples. Semiconductors are the high-beta growth proxy, so a near-2% drop alongside a 1.6% decline in regional banks points to risk reduction rather than a broad selloff, since two defensive sectors are absorbing flows. What matters is whether this is a one-session positioning move or the start of a sustained rotation; the open is too thin to tell. The open question is whether the defensive bid holds through the close or fades as it did in prior mixed opens.