Nasdaq, S&P end lower as tech stocks fall

[NEW YORK] The Nasdaq and S&P 500 closed lower on Wednesday (Jun 24), dragged by tech stocks on nagging concerns about high-flying valuations, but falling crude prices boosted airlines and other travel stocks and the Dow finished higher.

Oil prices fell to their lowest since the start of the Iran war as more tankers were expected to move out of the Strait of Hormuz. US President Donald Trump said that Iran had told Washington that no tolls were being sought.

The S&P 500 passenger airlines index gained 5.2 per cent while travel companies Expedia Group and Booking Holdings both rose.

Tech stocks slipped, intensifying the focus on chipmaker Micron Technology’s earnings that landed after the bell. The stock has surged more than 200 per cent in 2026 but closed on Wednesday down 0.3 per cent. It jumped in extended trading after quarterly revenue and fourth-quarter forecasts beat Wall Street estimates.

Cerebras Systems tumbled 19.6 per cent after the chip designer forecast full-year profit margins would drop below first-quarter figures in its debut report after going public. Also weighing on the stock, OpenAI announced its own in-house inference chip called Jalapeño.

Concerns around debt-backed spending by hyperscalers and mounting fears of a more hawkish Federal Reserve have fuelled the market downturn this week that has erased more than US$1 trillion in market value from the Nasdaq 100.

“The Middle East conversation is wrapping up ... energy prices are coming off,” said Michael Monaghan, partner and portfolio manager at Founder ETFs. “But you continue to have the AI CapEx buildout where, for some reason, people like the recipients of the spend and have been punishing those doing the spending.”

Six of the 11 major S&P 500 sectors moved higher, with the industrials sector rising the most at 1.2 per cent. Consumer discretionary stocks also rose 0.8 per cent, helping to offset the biggest losses in tech and energy stocks.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 182.06 points, or 0.35 per cent, to 51,848.90, the S&P 500 lost 7.24 points, or 0.1 per cent, to 7,358.22 and the Nasdaq Composite lost 110.40 points, or 0.43 per cent, to 25,476.64.

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Homebuilders soared after Trump cancelled a planned signing of bipartisan legislation aimed at speeding up the availability of affordable housing. Hovnanian Enterprises jumped 11.3 per cent. PulteGroup surged 7.2 per cent and Toll Brothers rose 6.7 per cent.

Among other movers, Hertz sank 40.7 per cent after the car-rental firm said that it expects second-quarter adjusted core earnings near the lower end of its forecast range and announced a proposed offering of US$100 million of common stock.

Traders are adding to bets of a second rate hike from the Fed by the end of December, according to CME Group’s FedWatch tool. Previously, the market expected a single 25-basis-point rise.

The closely watched Personal Consumption Expenditures Price Index, the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge, could offer insight on the monetary policy path on Thursday. Declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 1.03-to-1 ratio on the NYSE, which had 205 new highs and 226 new lows.

On the Nasdaq, 2,323 stocks rose and 2,499 fell as declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 1.08-to-1 ratio. The S&P 500 posted 25 new 52-week highs and four new lows while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 206 new highs and 177 new lows.

Volume on US exchanges was 25.84 billion shares, compared with the 22.92 billion average for the full session over the last 20 trading days. REUTERS