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June 26, 2026 - 17:52
6 minutes
(Bloomberg) — US stocks edged higher as dip buyers stepped in after a tumultuous week for chipmakers. Oil prices tumbled with more ships crossing through the Strait of Hormuz.Microsoft Corp. and Amazon.com Inc. rebounded from losses in the previous session, helping the S&P 500 climb on Friday. There’s still a sense of anxiety about whether the vast investments in artificial intelligence will justify the industry’s hefty valuations. A gauge of semiconductor shares — which is set for its best-ever quarter — sank 4.2% Friday.A multitude of headlines this week have served as a reality check on the durability of the tech rally, with a report that OpenAI could postpone plans to go public weighing on sentiment. News that Samsung Electronics Co. and SK Hynix Inc. are preparing to announce hundreds of billions of dollars worth in new investments on Monday also added to concerns.The violent swings in high-profile tech names in recent days have underscored how quickly the optimism surrounding the global AI trade is giving way to doubts over whether the rally can keep running. While there’s a predominant view that the AI trade isn’t over, the idea of everything going up in a straight line appears to be waning by the day.After a remarkable rally in recent months, investors have become increasingly sensitive to stretched valuations and rising infrastructure costs associated with AI, according to Fawad Razaqzada at Forex.com.“While some degree of profit-taking was perhaps inevitable, the latest moves also raise broader questions about whether expectations for the sector have simply run too far ahead of commercial reality,” he said.Investors pulled money from American stocks for the first time in three months, with record withdrawals from tech funds signaling that the AI trade is cooling. US equity funds shed $8.5 billion in the week through June 24, Bank of America Corp. said, citing EPFR Global data.The AI narrative right now is all over the place, and these conflicting signals suggest that the market is in the process of picking winners and losers in this space, and that is a process that will take time, according to Richard Reyle at Questar Capital Partners.“Investors can no longer hide passively in market-cap leaders. Instead, this is becoming more of a stock picker’s market,” said Craig Johnson at Piper Sandler.At Gabelli Funds, John Belton says he would characterize the recent tech moves as more of a “pause” than a “selloff.” Chipmakers are still within a striking distance of all-time highs while software firms have given back the majority of a rally staged earlier in the quarter. Meanwhile, megacaps have failed to keep up with the market despite strong fundamentals.“Are the hyperscalers set up to be left behind in the AI era? I would not count them out and believe that they are building platforms which will help drive AI diffusion across the economy for years to come,” Belton added.Meanwhile, yields on 10-year Treasuries fell two basis points to 4.37%. Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis President Neel Kashkari said signs of widespread inflation led him to pencil in one interest-rate increase for this year in the central bank’s economic projections released earlier this month.Oil extended this week’s decline, with West Texas Intermediate falling to around $69.Oman has told European officials that a return to the pre-war arrangements governing the Strait of Hormuz is unlikely, and that vessels passing through the waterway may in future face transit fees, according to people familiar with the discussions.Gold climbed above $4,000 an ounce, but was still on track for a fourth straight weekly decline, the longest losing streak since August 2023. Bullion has faced headwinds this year from a stronger US dollar and heightened expectations that the Federal Reserve will pursue a more hawkish approach to keep inflation in check.Corporate Highlights:OpenAI is considering an initial public offering as soon as in 2027, according to people familiar with the matter, a timeline that would potentially see it go public after its artificial intelligence rival Anthropic PBC. Samsung Electronics Co. and SK Hynix Inc. are preparing to announce hundreds of billions of dollars worth in new investments on Monday, according to South Korean media reports this week. Onsemi has agreed to buy Synaptics Inc., a firm that specializes in semiconductors for smart devices, in an all-stock deal that values the company at about $6.2 billion. Boeing Co. secured an order from China Southern Airlines Co. valued at $3.62 billion, marking an important win for the US manufacturer after seeing orders dry up from Asia’s largest aviation market in the past decade. Some of the main moves in markets:StocksThe S&P 500 rose 0.1% as of 11:34 a.m. New York time The Nasdaq 100 fell 0.5% The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.3% The Stoxx Europe 600 fell 0.7% The MSCI World Index was little changed CurrenciesThe Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.2% The euro rose 0.3% to $1.1403 The British pound rose 0.2% to $1.3214 The Japanese yen was little changed at 161.67 per dollar CryptocurrenciesBitcoin rose 1.1% to $60,044.61 Ether rose 1.2% to $1,576.8 BondsThe yield on 10-year Treasuries declined two basis points to 4.37% Germany’s 10-year yield declined one basis point to 2.85% Britain’s 10-year yield advanced three basis points to 4.73% CommoditiesWest Texas Intermediate crude fell 3.8% to $68.75 a barrel Spot gold rose 1.4% to $4,083.34 an ounce This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.©2026 Bloomberg L.P.
