Market Overview
At 13:50 ET (17:50 GMT) the S&P 500 was up 0.8% at 7,545.40, the Nasdaq Composite added 1.2% to 26,185.14 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 0.4% to 52,549.67. The Nasdaq’s 1 % gain was driven primarily by a rebound in semiconductor equities.
Semiconductor Sector Highlights
After a four‑day slide of nearly 14 %, the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index recovered more than 5 % on Wednesday and Thursday, with the biggest percentage gains on the Nasdaq coming from Sandisk, Arm and Micron. Oliver Pursche, senior vice‑president at Wealthspire Advisors, noted that investors remain focused on AI‑related spending despite short attention spans for politics. He warned of renewed inflationary pressure from rising oil prices, a cautious consumer outlook and labour‑market fragility that could alter growth expectations.
Meta Platforms disclosed an internal memo indicating it will begin production of a custom AI chip in September and intends to double its computing power to 14 GW by the following year. Separately, Bloomberg reported that SK Hynix, South Korea’s second‑largest company, is set to price its U.S. IPO at $149 per share – a 3.1 % premium to its Korean‑listed closing price – which would raise north of $26 billion. The offering is reported to be more than seven times oversubscribed, surpassing Saudi Aramco’s $25.6 billion 2019 IPO and trailing only SpaceX’s $85.7 billion offering last month.
Global memory sales hit a record $74.6 billion in July, according to UBS, reflecting soaring demand for memory used in AI chips. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman told CNBC that the escalating costs of memory and compute are a “definitely a headwind” for AI startups. Micron Technology announced it will increase its planned U.S. investment to over $250 billion through 2035 and commit up to $3 billion to strengthen the domestic semiconductor supply chain; its stock rose 7.9 % following the news.
Starbucks is developing in‑house AI software that could replace third‑party applications from Microsoft and IBM, according to an internal presentation. The news initially lifted software‑related stocks in pre‑market trading, and the iShares Expanded Tech‑Software Sector ETF ended the session up 1.2 %.
Geopolitical Developments
President Donald Trump, speaking after a NATO summit in Türkiye, said Iran had contacted Washington expressing a desire to make a deal following fresh U.S. strikes on roughly 170 Iranian targets, including air‑defence systems and IRGC boats. Trump described the strikes as “retribution” and said the U.S. would respond “20‑to‑1” to any Iranian aggression. When asked about the prospect of full‑scale conflict, he replied, “I don’t know.” Oil markets reacted positively to the comments, with crude prices falling nearly 3 % after Brent had briefly topped $80 a barrel – its highest level since June 22.
Corporate Earnings and Other Movers
PepsiCo reported second‑quarter results that beat revenue expectations, though adjusted earnings fell slightly short of analyst estimates; the stock slipped 3 % in after‑hours trading. AstraZeneca’s shares dropped 5.4 % after the company and partner Ionis Pharmaceuticals announced that their Wainua drug failed in a late‑stage trial for a rare heart disease, causing Ionis stock to tumble nearly 24 %.
Overall, the market’s rally was underpinned by strong AI‑related spending that offset geopolitical headwinds, while the sustainability of this momentum remains a point of debate among investors.