Stocks Climb Late After Micron’s Blowout Outlook: Markets Wrap
(Bloomberg) — Stocks climbed in late hours on speculation that Micron Technology Inc.’s strong outlook will help reignite confidence in the artificial-intelligence trade that has powered the market rally from war-driven lows.
A nearly $500 billion exchange-traded fund tracking the Nasdaq 100 rose 1.5% after the close of regular trading. Micron, the largest US maker of computer memory chips, jumped 13% on a sales forecast that topped estimates after AI-fueled shortages of the components sent prices soaring.
While the S&P 500 closed roughly little changed, the majority of its shares rose. Oil’s wartime price gains have mostly evaporated amid progress in peace talks, with Brent settling below $74. That helped ease concerns over inflation on the eve of a key report for the Federal Reserve, sending bond yields lower.
Investors breathed a sigh of relief after finding themselves suddenly on edge over the sustainability of the AI rally. A geyser of cash coming from tech giants locked in a race to add data-center capacity has made the makers of computing components and equipment this year’s best performing stocks. So far, there are no signs the flow of money is slowing.
While the recent tech weakness was unsettling, it looked more like a rotation and a rightsizing of positioning than a fundamentally driven alarm bell, according to Mark Hackett at Nationwide.
“When stocks rise too much and too fast, a pullback almost always ensues,” said Rick Gardner at RGA Investments. “We would much rather be buying tech stocks on days when they are down, and the pullback can present an opportunity for investors who do not have adequate exposure to this space, which is still fundamentally strong.”
At JPMorgan Chase & Co., strategists led by Dubravko Lakos-Bujas bet US stocks are approaching a “blue sky” scenario. They highlighted solid earnings and a potential peace deal to end the Iran war as key drivers while boosting their year-end target for the S&P 500 to 7,800. The gauge closed around 7,358.
Among notable news, JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted their dividends after passing this year’s Fed stress tests, a hurdle that softened in recent years as regulators hash out new requirements.
Easing geopolitical tensions spurred a further slide in oil prices, curbing wagers on rate increases over the coming year. Those bets had peaked after last week’s Fed meeting, with traders fully pricing in two hikes by mid-2027. They’ve since ebbed, leaving about 40 basis points of tightening priced in.
Yet the latest update to the Fed’s favorite inflation gauge is unlikely to challenge a growing consensus at the central bank around the need for hikes. Forecasters expect Thursday’s personal consumption expenditures price index to show acceleration on both a monthly and year-over-year basis in May.
Corporate Highlights:
Two leading artificial intelligence researchers at Alphabet Inc.’s Google are planning to leave for rival Anthropic PBC, according to people familiar with the matter, adding to a series of high-profile departures that risk undercutting the search giant’s position in AI. Anthropic PBC accused Chinese technology giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. of waging a large-scale effort to “illicitly” access its Claude artificial intelligence model using thousands of fraudulent accounts that undermine the US AI developer’s decision to keep its products out of China. OpenAI unveiled its first custom AI chip developed in partnership with Broadcom Inc., part of a bid by the ChatGPT maker to gain an edge by tailoring hardware to better run its products. Cerebras Systems Inc. plunged to the lowest level since the chipmaker’s public debut after it issued an annual sales forecast that disappointed investors. SK Hynix Inc. is seeking 45.45 trillion won ($29.4 billion) in a US listing, tapping investor demand for high-flying memory-chip stocks even after a major selloff shook the group this week. The meme-stock crowd is rallying behind another beaten up American icon — Wendy’s Co. — the fast-food chain known for the Frosty, Dave’s Triple burger and the Biggie Deal. Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
The S&P 500 was little changed as of 4 p.m. New York time The Nasdaq 100 fell 0.4% The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.4% The MSCI World Index fell 0.2% Currencies
The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.2% The euro fell 0.2% to $1.1355 The British pound fell 0.3% to $1.3163 The Japanese yen fell 0.2% to 161.82 per dollar Cryptocurrencies
Bitcoin fell 2.9% to $60,577.16 Ether fell 3.4% to $1,606.46 Bonds
The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined nine basis points to 4.40% Germany’s 10-year yield declined five basis points to 2.86% Britain’s 10-year yield declined seven basis points to 4.68% Commodities
West Texas Intermediate crude fell 4.5% to $69.94 a barrel Spot gold fell 2.9% to $3,999.64 an ounce ©2026 Bloomberg L.P.
