Major stock market indexes moved higher Thursday as investors purchased discounted technology shares while monitoring ongoing Middle East tensions.
Semiconductor companies recovered following Wednesday’s decline that pushed major indexes down over 1% and sent technology stocks into correction territory with a 10% fall from recent peaks.
Intel surged 10%, while Nvidia and Micron Technology climbed 1.3% and 2.4% respectively. The S&P 500 technology index rose 1.4%, and the Philadelphia SE Semiconductor index jumped 4.5%.
Oracle stock dropped 12.5% after the company announced capital spending projections for fiscal 2027 that exceeded Wall Street expectations. Software stocks declined 2.2% overall.
Applovin and Atlassian each fell approximately 3%, while Servicenow, Salesforce and Adobe decreased between 2.2% and 3%.
U.S. President Donald Trump announced Washington would strike Iran “very hard tonight” and soon assume control of the Middle Eastern nation’s oil and gas infrastructure and markets. Oil prices moved 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 09:56 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average increased 450.39 points, or 0.90%, to 50,371.57, the S&P 500 advanced 58.67 points, or 0.81%, to 7,325.66 and the Nasdaq Composite rose 267.93 points, or 1.07%, to 25,437.44.
The S&P 500 has fallen roughly 4% since reaching a record closing high in early June as investors wrestle with worries about elevated tech valuations and stricter monetary policy, with Middle East conflict adding inflationary concerns.
Ten of 11 major S&P 500 sectors posted gains, with industrial stocks leading the advance.
Communication services fell 1.5%, as Alphabet and Meta each dropped nearly 2%.
Economic data revealed U.S. producer prices rose more than anticipated in May, resulting in the biggest annual increase in over three years.
Additionally, the number of Americans filing unemployment benefit claims rose slightly last week.
The Federal Reserve is widely anticipated to maintain current interest rates at next week’s policy meeting, with investors expecting at least one 25 basis point rate increase by year’s end.
The eagerly awaited Friday market launch of Elon Musk’s SpaceX, expected to be valued at $1.75 trillion, could challenge this year’s rally that has repeatedly pushed stocks to record heights.
The World Bank reduced its global growth projection for 2026 due to the Middle East war, stating growth could decelerate to just 1.3% if energy supply disruptions become more severe and create significant financial market stress.
Among other notable moves, Navan soared 16.5% after the corporate travel booking agency increased its full-year revenue and operating income forecasts on Wednesday.
Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones 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 recorded 9 new 52-week highs and 7 new lows while the Nasdaq Composite registered 86 new highs and 86 new lows.
