US stocks: Wall Street ticks up as chips rebound, Middle East in focus

WALL Street’s major indexes inched higher on Thursday, as investors sought bargains in beaten-down technology stocks and kept a close watch on developments around the Middle East conflict.

Chipmakers bounced back after Wednesday’s selloff sent major Wall Street indexes down more than 1 per cent and technology stocks into correction territory, a 10 per cent drop from their record close.

Intel soared 10 per cent, while Nvidia and Micron Technology were up 1.3 per cent and 2.4 per cent, respectively. The S&P 500 technology index 1.4 per cent, while the Philadelphia SE Semiconductor index advanced 4.5 per cent.

Oracle shares plunged 12.5 per cent after the company projected capital spending plans for fiscal 2027 above Wall Street estimates. Software shares came under pressure, down 2.2 per cent.

Applovin and Atlassian fell about 3 per cent each, while Servicenow, Salesforce and Adobe were down between 2.2 per cent and 3 per cent.

US President Donald Trump said Washington would hit Iran “very hard tonight” and soon take control of the Middle Eastern country’s oil and gas infrastructure and markets. Oil prices edged higher.

“That’s (Trump’s warning) a pretty worrisome thought for the market but what we’re seeing here is a market that may have been grossly oversold over the past few days. And so that’s why we’re seeing some sort of a bump,” said Phil Blancato, chief market strategist at Osaic Wealth.

At 9.56 am ET the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 450.39 points, or 0.90 per cent, to 50,371.57, the S&P 500 gained 58.67 points, or 0.81 per cent, to 7,325.66 and the Nasdaq Composite gained 267.93 points, or 1.07 per cent, to 25,437.44.

The S&P 500 has dropped about 4 per cent since hitting a record closing high in early June as investors grapple with concerns about stretched tech valuations and tighter monetary policy, with the Middle East conflict stoking inflationary pressures.

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Ten out of 11 major S&P 500 sectors were in the green, with industrial shares leading gains.

Communication services dropped 1.5 per cent, as Alphabet and Meta declined almost 2 per cent each.

Data showed US producer prices increased more than expected in May, leading to the largest annual gain in over three years.

Separately, the number of Americans filing claims for unemployment benefits increased marginally last week.

The Federal Reserve is widely expected to hold interest rates steady at its policy meeting next week, with investors pricing in at least one 25 basis point rate hike by the end of the year.

The highly anticipated Friday market debut of Elon Musk’s SpaceX, set to be valued at US$1.75 trillion, could also test the rally this year that has repeatedly lifted stocks to record levels.

Meanwhile, the World Bank cut its global growth forecast for 2026 citing the Middle East war, saying growth could slow to just 1.3 per cent if energy supply disruptions prove more severe and come with substantial stress in financial markets.

Among other movers, Navan jumped 16.5 per cent after the corporate travel booking agency raised its full-year forecasts for revenue and operating income on Wednesday.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 3.27-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and by a 2.11-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.

The S&P 500 posted 9 new 52-week highs and 7 new lows while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 86 new highs and 86 new lows. REUTERS