Closing Bell: Chip Rebound Lifts Stocks as Oil Retreats

The major U.S. stock indexes dismissed U.S.-Iran sparring to finish higher Thursday, bolstered by strength in technology and semiconductor shares. 

With suggestions for a return to diplomacy after two days of U.S. airstrikes following Iranian strikes on commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, the U.S. benchmark oil price declined about 2.5% to $71.70 per barrel.  

The S&P 500 (SPX) rose +0.81% to 7,543.64, the Nasdaq-100 rebounded +1.62% to 29,727.10 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average ($DJI) was up +0.27% to 52,487.41. The small-cap Russell 2000 (RUT) was up 1.22%, and the PHLX Semiconductor Sector Index (SOX) climbed 3%. 

Here are three things to watch from Thursday’s market: 

New Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh redirected thinking Thursday toward the domestic economy by naming members of five task forces that could reform the central bank. Among them are Marc Andreessen, the venture capital investor and pioneer co-founder of the Mosaic and Netscape web browsers. That came on the heels of Wednesday’s release of FOMC minutes, in which members discussed the impact of rising energy prices on inflation, and the potential for interest rate hikes. Danielle DiMartino Booth expects big banks may lend less money to consumers under a Warsh Fed where "less is more.”  

U.S.-Iran War Shock Factor? Tech Rebounds: Despite the U.S. conflict with Iran and slowed oil flows threatening transportation in many forms, appetite for risk returned and the AI memory trade was alive and well. Micron Technology (MU) was up 4.5% Thursday, and Lumentum Holdings (LITE) was the top performer in the S&P 500, up 11%, followed by Hewlett Packard Enterprises (HPE), which jumped 10%. Sandisk (SNDK) was up more than 8%. U.S.-Iran War Losing 'Shock Factor' to Markets, MU Rebounds into SK Hynix Offering 

SK Hynix U.S. Listing, the AI Trade and Memory Demand Growth: South Korea’s SK Hynix is set to price its offering at $149 per share as a U.S. listing with American Depositary Receipts on the Nasdaq Friday, Bloomberg reports, and strong demand is expected due to AI memory supply constraints. This may be the buoy for the AI trade alongside chipmakers like Nvidia (NVDA) and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), but in the AI memory space, can SK Hynix lead in the face of competition headwinds? 

Economic Events for Friday, July 10 (ET) 

• 01:00 PM: Baker Hughes Rig Counts 

Earnings for Friday: 

• Premarket (Friday): Delta Air Lines (DAL) 

Postmarket (Friday): n/a 

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