NEW YORK — The U.S. stock market meandered to a mixed finish Thursday after several artificial intelligence stocks veered back up their roller-coaster ride, while Apple dropped after hiking prices on many of its products.
The S&P 500 finished nearly unchanged with a dip of less than 0.1 per cent after swinging between gains and losses throughout the day. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 71 points, or 0.1 per cent, and the Nasdaq composite fell 0.5 per cent.
Micron Technology helped lead the market after jumping 15.7 per cent. The maker of computer memory reported much bigger profit and revenue for the latest quarter than analysts expected, and it gave a stronger growth forecast for the current quarter than Wall Street expected. That helped allay worries a bit that its stock had grown too expensive after coming into the day with a surge of 267 per cent so far this year.
Micron and AI stocks broadly have been under pressure recently because of worries that their profits can’t possibly keep pace with the tremendous rallies for their stock prices. But beyond Micron, Qualcomm said late Wednesday that the acceleration of the AI era is forcing it to upgrade forecasts for its own growth in upcoming years. They’re the latest signals of the deluge of dollars heading into AI data centers and other investments.
Qualcomm said it expects its revenue outside of handsets, including data centers, to hit US$40 billion in its fiscal year of 2029, roughly double its prior target. Qualcomm’s stock rose 3.8 per cent.
But all the strong demand for computer memory and storage that’s driving profits and stock prices higher for producers is also leading to higher costs for customers. Apple on Thursday raised prices for many of its products, including increases of 15 per cent to 20 per cent for Mac computers, according to analysts. Its stock slumped 6.1 per cent and was the single heaviest weight on the S&P 500.
SpaceX, meanwhile, fell 1 per cent to drop below US$153 for its lowest finish since its ballyhooed debut on the Nasdaq earlier this month.
All told, the S&P 500 slipped 0.73 to 7,357.49 points. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 71.72 to 51,960.62, and the Nasdaq composite fell 118.03 to 25,358.60.
In the bond market, Treasury yields eased to lessen the pressure on stocks and other investment prices. They regressed after a report showed inflation is behaving pretty much as economists expected.
The report said that a measure of inflation hitting U.S. consumers accelerated to 4.1 per cent last month from 3.8 per cent in April, but the hope is that inflation is set to ease because of a drop-off in oil prices.
The price for a barrel of Brent crude oil, the international standard, rose 2.2 per cent to US$75.50 Thursday. But it’s still well off its highs above US$100 caused by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz because of the war, which slowed the global flow of oil. Earlier Thursday, it dropped near its roughly US$72 price from before the war.
That helped the yield on the 10-year Treasury slip to 4.39 per cent from 4.41 per cent late Wednesday and from 4.56 per cent earlier this month.
“As long as gasoline prices trend lower, inflation expectations will likely follow suit,” according to Brian Jacobsen, chief economic strategist at Annex Wealth Management.
High yields in bond markets worldwide caused by worries about inflation are threatening to slow economies, and they have already sent rates higher for mortgages and other kinds of loans. High yields also hurt prices for investments, particularly those seen as the most expensive. That raises the pressure on AI winners.
In stock markets abroad, South Korea’s Kospi jumped 5.4 per cent after its own AI winners shot higher, including a 13.1 per cent surge for SK Hynix.
Other markets also rallied, including gains of 4.6 per cent for Japan’s Nikkei 225 and 0.7 per cent for the United Kingdom’s FTSE 100. A 1.4 per cent drop for Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was an outlier.
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Stan Choe, The Associated Press
AP Business Writer Elaine Kurtenbach contributed to this report.
