US equities ended Thursday mixed, with the S&P 500 little changed, the Nasdaq 100 down 0.5%, and the Dow Jones up 0.1%. Investors continued to reassess their exposure to mega-cap technology stocks even as they digested a batch of encouraging economic data.
Optimism around semiconductors and AI-driven demand remained intact, but unease about the market’s heavy reliance on a handful of hyperscale and software names weighed on broader indices. Micron surged more than 15% after reporting earnings that topped expectations and issuing a bullish revenue forecast of $50 billion for the August quarter. Qualcomm gained nearly 4% after it doubled its outlook for non-handset revenue over the next three years.
In contrast, several major tech names traded lower: Nvidia, Oracle, Amazon, Alphabet, and Microsoft each declined, with losses of up to 3.7%. Apple dropped 6.1% after announcing price increases for its MacBook and iPad lines, attributing the move to higher component costs, including memory chips.
On the macro front, newly released data showed the US economy expanding at a faster pace than previously reported, while inflation rose in line with economists’ expectations.
