Stocks Get Boost From Chipmakers as Oil Declines: Markets Wrap

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July 9, 2026 - 17:01

5 minutes

(Bloomberg) — A resurgence in giant chipmakers powered a rebound on Wall Street, with stocks also rising amid a decline in oil prices as traders looked past fresh hostilities between the US and Iran.The tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 added 1%. A gauge of semiconductor firms climbed 4%. Micron Technology Inc. plans to increase spending on new plants in the US to $250 billion to help meet demand fueled by the artificial-intelligence boom. SK Hynix Inc.’s US listing was said to be more than seven times oversubscribed, underscoring strong appetite for the South Korean chipmaker.A wild ride for tech stocks in recent weeks has left investors looking for fresh validation of the AI trade. While semiconductor shares just wrapped up their best quarter on record, there have been growing doubts over rising competition, potential overcapacity and the payoff from massive investments.Those questions have intensified at a time when geopolitical risks resurface, with the US and Iran trading airstrikes. But markets treated the attacks as another round of managed escalation based on the premise that the economy can continue to absorb the shock, according to Elias Haddad at Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.“Investors are much more focused on the upcoming earnings season than they are on the geopolitical front,” said Matt Maley at Miller Tabak.AI is likely to remain a key driver of markets during the second half of 2026, but the narrative is evolving, according to Jeff Buchbinder at LPL Financial. This transition may create a more selective environment in which companies that demonstrate successful monetization are rewarded, while those that fail to deliver face greater volatility, he noted.“Recent volatility in semiconductor stocks suggests this transition is underway,” Buchbinder said. “Investors should focus less on who is spending the most and more on who is generating measurable returns from those investments.”Investors are getting better at distinguishing between the potential risks and rewards in AI, according to JPMorgan Asset Management’s David Lebovitz, a crucial lesson for Wall Street as the technology becomes an “everywhere” trade.“People are beginning to delineate a bit more between the different pieces and where there may be excess supply, where there may be robust demand,” Lebovitz told Bloomberg Television’s Surveillance. “It’s not this, this view that, ‘Oh, we love AI and we’re going to buy everything that has AI associated with it.’”Meantime, Federal Reserve Bank of New York President John Williams said that among the drivers of inflation in the US, he’s most focused on demand driven by AI. And if that demand persists, it could force the central bank to raise interest rates.Corporate Highlights:SK Hynix Inc. is telling investors it intends to price its US listing at $149 per American depositary receipt, according to people familiar with the matter, despite recent volatility in the Korean memory chipmaker’s shares. Meta Platforms Inc. unveiled a version of its most advanced AI model that includes a new paid tier for developers, marking the first time it has charged businesses for access to its models and providing a new revenue stream. It’ll be among the most affordable options on the market, Mark Zuckerberg said ahead of the release. TeraWulf Inc. is preparing to raise about $3.5 billion in debt to build a data center campus in Kentucky, including its first-ever foray into the leveraged loan market. Starbucks Corp. is developing in-house tools with the help of artificial intelligence that could replace some software applications it now buys from companies such as Microsoft Corp. and International Business Machines Corp. PepsiCo Inc. said consumers pulled back in the second quarter as gas prices rose, slowing its efforts to revitalize its North American snack business. Some of the main moves in markets:StocksThe S&P 500 rose 0.4% as of 11 a.m. New York time The Nasdaq 100 rose 1.1% The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.3% The Stoxx Europe 600 rose 0.7% The MSCI World Index rose 0.6% CurrenciesThe Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed The euro rose 0.1% to $1.1433 The British pound was little changed at $1.3391 The Japanese yen rose 0.1% to 162.38 per dollar CryptocurrenciesBitcoin rose 1.5% to $62,985.91 Ether rose 0.4% to $1,742.68 BondsThe yield on 10-year Treasuries declined three basis points to 4.55% Germany’s 10-year yield was little changed at 3.09% Britain’s 10-year yield declined seven basis points to 4.90% CommoditiesWest Texas Intermediate crude fell 1.6% to $72.36 a barrel Spot gold rose 1.2% to $4,127.69 an ounce ©2026 Bloomberg L.P.