Chip Stocks Post Biggest Advance Since April 2025: Markets Wrap
(Bloomberg) — A rebound in giant chipmakers lifted stocks as dip buyers emerged on speculation that the artificial-intelligence trade that has powered the bull market has more room to run.
Following a selloff in one of Wall Street’s most-crowded bets, a closely watched gauge of semiconductor giants climbed the most since April 2025. The Nasdaq 100 advanced 3.4%. Microsoft Corp. surged 16%, adding roughly $450 billion to its value, the most by any stock in a single day. In late hours, Amazon.com Inc. jumped after its results while Apple Inc. retreated.
Large gains occurred in shares that, as of the first quarter, had been top holdings of Situational Awareness, the hedge fund led by former OpenAI researcher Leopold Aschenbrenner that earlier sold a big chunk of its holdings to Citadel after liquidating equities caught up in the AI rout.
Bloom Energy Corp., Sandisk Corp. and CoreWeave Inc. each soared more than 20% after falling sharply earlier in the month.
“Despite near-term volatility, the outlook for US equities remains constructive, supported by strong corporate earnings, ongoing AI adoption, a resilient economy, and favorable financial conditions,” said Sameer Samana at Wells Fargo Investment Institute.
Solid consumer spending and business investment signaled underlying strength even as growth moderated in the second quarter. Long-term bond yields kept rising a day after the Federal Reserve held rates steady despite high inflation. The dollar fell. The yen spiked, fueling speculation of intervention.
The recent equity weakness appeared more consistent with a reset in a market that had become overheated than a breakdown in the primary trend, according to Keith Lerner at Truist Advisory Services Inc.
“The bull market remains intact,” he said.
Thursday’s rally in chipmakers trimmed their July plunge to 21% — which is still set to be the biggest monthly slide since 2008. Despite the insatiable demand for all things related to AI, the group has been under intense volatility after a massive stock-market run, with lofty expectations leaving little room for disappointment.
“We remain constructive on the AI growth story, but believe investors should manage concentration risk by broadening their exposure to defensive tech stocks,” said Ulrike Hoffmann-Burchardi at UBS Chief Investment Office.
Elsewhere, oil fell on signs shipping across the Strait of Hormuz has picked up despite hostilities in the Middle East. Short-dated UK government bonds climbed after the Bank of England left rates unchanged and pointed to easing domestic inflationary pressures.
Corporate Highlights:
Amazon.com Inc. reported cloud-computing revenue that beat estimates, with booming demand for AI services accelerating sales for the fifth straight quarter. Meta Platforms Inc. said it has already committed almost $700 billion in future spending, through long- and short-term agreements, related to AI data centers, cloud computing and more. Alphabet Inc.’s Google DeepMind unveiled an AI model for robots that allows humanoid machines to coordinate movements across their entire bodies. Oracle Corp. said it would expand a partnership with Google Cloud to bring Gemini AI tools to its business customers. Qualcomm Inc. Chief Executive Officer Cristiano Amon said demand for smartphones remains strong, but the growing costs of making the devices are keeping the market down. What Bloomberg Strategists say…
“The rebound in tech and momentum stocks looks more like a positioning squeeze than the start of a durable risk-on move.”
—Michael Ball, Macro Strategist, Markets Live. For the full analysis, click here.
Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
The S&P 500 rose 1.7% as of 4 p.m. New York time The Nasdaq 100 rose 3.4% The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.2% The MSCI World Index rose 1.7% Currencies
The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.9% The euro rose 0.6% to $1.1532 The British pound rose 0.8% to $1.3472 The Japanese yen rose 2.5% to 159.38 per dollar Cryptocurrencies
Bitcoin rose 2.2% to $64,835.26 Ether rose 2.2% to $1,923.67 Bonds
The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined one basis point to 4.67% Germany’s 10-year yield was little changed at 3.15% Britain’s 10-year yield declined five basis points to 4.98% The yield on 2-year Treasuries declined four basis points to 4.24% The yield on 30-year Treasuries advanced one basis point to 5.21% Commodities
West Texas Intermediate crude fell 0.9% to $83.67 a barrel Spot gold rose 1.2% to $4,116.73 an ounce –With assistance from Chris Nagi and Lu Wang.
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