US MARKET CLOSE | Chip Stocks Rebound as Philadelphia Semiconductor Index Rises Over 2%; Oil Falls Below $100
US stocks closed mixed on Friday as investors continued to digest the Federal Reserve's first rate hike in three years and concerns tied to artificial intelligence, according to Sina Finance. The Dow fell 95.39 points, or 0.18%, to 51,682.64, ending the week down 1.69%. The S&P 500 rose 12.74 points, or 0.17%, to 7,650.50, down 0.08% for the week. The Nasdaq gained 104.24 points, or 0.39%, to 26,522.54, up 0.72% for the week. The "Magnificent Seven" were mixed: Nvidia and Amazon rose more than 1%, Google edged higher, Meta fell more than 2%, while Apple, Microsoft and Tesla dipped slightly. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index surged late in the session to close up 2.78%. SanDisk jumped about 11%, Coherent rose more than 7%, Seagate Technology gained more than 6%, Western Digital advanced more than 4%, Micron Technology rose more than 3%, and AMD and SK Hynix each climbed more than 2%. Cryptocurrency-related names rallied, with Strategy up more than 16%, MARA Holdings up more than 13%, Robinhood up more than 9%, Bitmine and Cipher up more than 8%, and Circle up more than 7%. Rising Treasury yields pressured equities. The 10-year Treasury yield broke above 5% earlier in the week, touching its highest level since July 2007, and briefly returned above that mark on Friday after pulling back Thursday, last up nearly 6 basis points at 5.006%. US crude closed roughly flat for the week but held above $100 a barrel. On Friday, West Texas Intermediate futures fell 1.58% to settle at $100.30 a barrel, while global benchmark Brent futures fell 0.91% to settle at $103.87 a barrel. The Fed on Wednesday decided to raise rates by 25 basis points and signaled at least one more hike this year, driving major averages lower that day, though the market rebounded Thursday. The Thursday rebound, especially in tech, suggested investors were eager to look past the prospect of higher-for-longer rates and return to the AI narrative, betting it will continue to support corporate profits. "Some of the uncertainty was removed after the Fed hike this week," said Scott Welch, chief investment officer at Certuity. But Welch does not view the latest hike as a one-off, believing the hiking cycle is just beginning and could weigh on stocks in the coming months. "At some point, whether in October or after the election, I think the Fed will raise rates at least once more in 2026, and possibly once or twice more in 2027," he said. He forecasts continued upward pressure on Treasury yields and expects oil prices to stay elevated in the coming months. Chip stocks have largely recovered from the sell-off earlier in the week that followed calls from Anthropic and OpenAI to slow AI development. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index posted a small gain for the week.
