Wall Street closes mixed despite Micron surge; S&P 500, Nasdaq slip

US stocks closed mixed Thursday despite strong earnings from chipmaker Micron Technology.

Concerns over rising memory costs, compounded by Apple's announcement of product price increases, weighed on the broader market.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 71.72 points, or 0.14%, at 51,920.62.

The S&P 500 fell 0.73 points, or 0.01%, to 7,357.49, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite dropped 118.03 points, or 0.46%, to 25,358.60.

Markets opened higher on optimism over AI chip demand but gave back most of their gains as large-cap technology stocks weakened through the session.

Micron surged about 16% after delivering earnings and an outlook that exceeded market expectations.

Apple, however, tumbled 6.12% after announcing price increases on MacBooks and iPads, citing higher costs for memory and other components.

Microsoft also fell 3.46% amid news of its own product price increases and concerns over AI infrastructure costs. Alphabet and Meta each declined roughly 1% and 2%, respectively.

Markets are increasingly worried that while growing AI demand is a boon for chipmakers, rising costs will squeeze margins at the Big Tech firms that sell finished products.

The weakness in technology stocks created a buying opportunity in value sectors such as traditional industries and financials, with the Dow briefly hitting an all-time intraday high. Healthcare, financial and industrial stocks all posted gains.

Oil prices rebounded for the first time in five sessions after a vessel was struck in the Strait of Hormuz.

Brent crude futures for August delivery settled at $75.26 a barrel, up 2.06%, while US West Texas Intermediate futures rose 2.25% to $71.92 a barrel.

Oil had fallen to near pre-war levels the previous day on hopes that progress in US-Iran negotiations would boost shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, but geopolitical risks resurfaced and reversed the trend.

The May personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index, released Thursday, showed that inflationary pressure remains persistent.

The May PCE price index rose 4.1% year on year, the largest annual increase since April 2023.

The core PCE price index, which excludes food and energy, climbed 3.4% year on year — its highest reading since October 2023.

However, the figures came in within market expectations, leaving US Treasury yields largely unmoved.

The 2-year and 10-year Treasury yields each fell 2 basis points to 4.13% and 4.39%, respectively.

The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index, which tracks the dollar against major currencies, slipped 0.2%.

Cryptocurrencies continued to weaken. Bitcoin fell 2.6% to $59,297.16, dropping below the $60,000 mark, while Ethereum declined 3.3% to $1,558.15.

Spot gold rose 0.8% to $4,029.56 per ounce amid demand for safe-haven assets.

With Wall Street closing mixed Wednesday, attention turns to Kospi volatility Friday. The Kospi ended Wednesday's session up 459.28 points, or 5.42%, at 8,930.30, briefly reclaiming the 9,000 level during trading on the tailwind from Micron's results.