Tech shares weigh on market
The Nasdaq has closed lower, dragged down by losses in big tech shares, while the S&P closed near flat and the Dow closed higher as investors digested new economic data.
Technology shares reversed early gains to move lower, weighing on the Nasdaq as investors worried about hyperscaler spending on artificial intelligence and who foots the bill.
Those fears outweighed upbeat signals on AI demand from Micron and Qualcomm.
The Nasdaq was on track for its biggest monthly decline since March 2025.
Big tech and chip stocks diverge
Apple slid 6.1 per cent after hiking prices for iPads and MacBooks to counter surging memory and storage chip costs.
Shares of Nvidia, Microsoft and Alphabet were also down between 0.5 per cent and 3.5 per cent.
Micron soared 15.7 per cent after its earnings and forecasts beat Wall Street estimates.
Memory chipmaker Sandisk also soared 22 per cent, while Qualcomm, Western Digital and Seagate Technology all rose.
Sector performance mixed
Six of the 11 major S&P 500 sectors moved higher, led by industrial stocks which rose 2.2 per cent.
Consumer discretionary and consumer staple stocks lost the most ground, while tech stocks dropped 0.1 per cent.
The Philadelphia SE Semiconductor index rose 3.2 per cent and was on track for its strongest quarter on record, according to LSEG data.
Economic data and Fed outlook
The US Department of Commerce released a range of data on Thursday.
US inflation increased in May, moving above 4.0 per cent for the first time in three years on higher energy prices, potentially drawing the Federal Reserve closer to raising interest rates.
In response, traders anticipate the Fed will lift interest rates by at least 25 basis points before the end of the year, according to LSEG data.
A final reading of first-quarter GDP showed the economy grew by 2.1 per cent compared to a prior estimate of 1.6 per cent.
Jobless claims data showed a higher-than-expected fall in the number of people filing for unemployment benefits.
Oil and other movers
Oil prices fell below pre-war levels this week.
Among other movers, Bio-Techne Corp jumped 11.8 per cent after Germany’s Merck KGaA agreed to acquire the biotech firm for $US73 per share in cash.
