The Dow is up roughly 0.3%, versus a fall of 3.11% for the Nasdaq. If it holds, the Dow's 3.41 percentage point outperformance would be its strongest versus the Nasdaq since Nov. 9, 2020, according to Dow Jones Market Data, when the blue-chip gauge outpaced the tech-heavy index by 4.47 percentage points.

The Nasdaq could face market-cap losses of nearly $1 trillion if premarket declines hold into the close of trading.