NEW YORK, July 9, 2026, 18:02 EDT
- Nasdaq climbed 1.3% and the PHLX chip index jumped 3.06%. The Dow only picked up 0.27%, so most of the rebound was in semis.
- Micron Technology NASDAQ:MU said it will invest over $250 billion in the U.S. by 2035, giving investors another angle on AI memory demand.
- Oil pulled back after jumping on Wednesday, with markets still focused on flows through the Strait of Hormuz and Fed-driven inflation risk as key negatives.
Micron Technology NASDAQ:MU helped push the AI-chip trade higher Thursday, grabbing the lead in a shaky Wall Street bounce as traders piled into semis despite more U.S.-Iran strikes and choppy oil prices.
The Nasdaq Composite climbed 1.30% to 26,206.89. The S&P 500 gained 0.81% to 7,543.66. The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended up 0.27% at 52,487.41. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index rose 3.06% for a second session.
The move is notable because the rally wasn’t across the board. It was more a bet that AI spending will still hold up against worries over oil-driven inflation. The S&P 500 has climbed about 10% this year and is trading less than 1% below its June 2 record. Its forward P/E ratio has dropped to around 20 from 21 a month back. Analysts see profits for S&P 500 firms jumping 24% over the past year, driven mostly by tech.
The trade stayed narrow looking at two sessions. The chip index jumped over 5% across Wednesday and Thursday, but the Dow was still down for that period. Volume dropped too, with Thursday’s trading at around 64% of the 20-day average, less than the 77% seen Wednesday, according to exchange figures.
| Gauge | July 8 close | July 9 close | Two-session read |
|---|---|---|---|
| S&P 500 | -0.28% | +0.81% | Back up about 0.5% from before the selloff |
| Nasdaq Composite | +0.20% | +1.30% | Up nearly 1.5%, led by chip names |
| Dow Jones Industrial Average | -1.09% | +0.27% | Down about 0.8%, cyclicals still soft |
| PHLX Semiconductor Index | +2.23% | +3.06% | Rallied about 5.4%, top gainer of the group |
| U.S. exchange volume | 17.8 bln shares vs 23.0 bln avg | 14.7 bln vs 22.9 bln avg | Buyers stepped in but volume stayed light |
Micron said its bigger U.S. buildout will take total investment beyond the $200 billion level it announced before, adding a semiconductor campus in New York, expanding sites in Idaho and Virginia, and putting $3 billion into the U.S. chip supply chain. Shares climbed 4.5% at the close. Applied Materials NASDAQ:AMAT finished up 3.2%. Sandisk NASDAQ:SNDK added 7.6%. “Very much an AI bull market,” said Ross Mayfield, investment strategy analyst at Baird, though he cautioned wider gains might still rely on tame oil and rates. Reuters
| Company | Thursday move/news | Investor read-through |
|---|---|---|
| Micron Technology NASDAQ:MU | Up 4.5%; outlines over $250 billion in U.S. spending | AI memory demand still the top equity theme |
| Applied Materials NASDAQ:AMAT | Gained 3.2% | Fab spending outlook lifted tools names |
| Sandisk NASDAQ:SNDK | Jumped 7.6% | Storage supply stayed tight, buyers stepped in |
| Meta Platforms NASDAQ:META | Shares rose after Reuters flagged “Iris” AI chip project | Custom silicon plays into cost control |
Meta Platforms NASDAQ:META is making a push into AI hardware. According to an internal memo seen by Reuters, Meta wants to start production of its own AI chip in September and increase computing capacity to 14 gigawatts next year. A gigawatt is enough to power about 800,000 homes. Meta is teaming up with Broadcom NASDAQ:AVGO and aims to cut reliance on Nvidia NASDAQ:NVDA and Advanced Micro Devices NASDAQ:AMD. “You can’t become an AI titan if you are dependent on another company for chips,” said Mike Gualtieri, a Forrester vice president and principal analyst. Reuters
Oil prices slid, letting stocks keep moving, but gains were limited. Brent dropped $1.72, or 2.2%, finishing at $76.30 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude lost $1.44, or 2.0%, to $72.08. This came even after Reuters reported renewed U.S.-Iran attacks and slower-than-expected reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, which carried about 20% of the world’s oil before the conflict. Goldman Sachs put Persian Gulf oil flows at the low-70s percent of normal after tanker incidents.
Bond markets looked calmer than the day before. The 10-year Treasury yield pulled back to 4.547% after hitting a seven-week high on Wednesday. Traders now price in about an 87% chance the Fed will hike rates by year-end, according to Reuters. A basis point equals 0.01 percentage point. First-time jobless claims slipped 2,000 to 215,000 for the week ended July 4. That gave investors another reason to hold onto growth names.
The Federal Reserve remains the main variable for markets. Minutes out from the June meeting showed policymakers kept rates at 3.50%-3.75%, with some officials open to a hike. Nine out of 18 projected slightly higher rates by the end of the year. LPL Financial’s Jeffrey Roach said policy stays “heavily contingent” on the Middle East, a clear signal for equity traders who have been chasing every oil drop as a buy cue. Reuters
Consumer stocks flashed another caution sign for the rally. PepsiCo NASDAQ:PEP dropped 3.3% after beating revenue estimates, and Costco Wholesale NASDAQ:COST lost 4.2% to hit a six-month low after reporting slower June same-store sales. Seven of the 11 S&P 500 sectors gained, with tech out front, but the advance leaned on fewer big names.
The downside case is still out there. If oil traffic through Hormuz drops more, or if attacks send Brent back to highs from earlier in the conflict, the market’s AI multiple can’t afford much of a slip. “Duration is the key here,” Rob Haworth, senior investment strategist at U.S. Bank Wealth Management, said Wednesday. The longer the fighting stretches on, the easier it gets for inflation and earnings to turn into real trouble, not just a one-off oil spike. Reuters
Friday looks set to depend on three things again: Middle East news, what energy does, and if chips keep rallying after the run earlier this week. Reuters’ Trading Day note named the Middle East, energy swings, and Trump’s social-media posts as possible movers for markets. That’s not the usual list for earnings season. It’s what you get when an AI rally trades with war risk.
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