S&P 500, Nasdaq, Dow End Higher Led By Chipmaker Stocks As Investors Look Past US-Iran Hostility — ORCL, SBUX, WULF, PANW, FATE In Focus

• The S&P 500 ended 0.8% higher, while the Nasdaq 100 rose 1.3% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.3%.
• SK Hynix is scheduled to debut on the Nasdaq on July 10.
• S&P Global Ratings downgraded Oracle Corp. to the lowest investment-grade rating.   

U.S. stock indices ended higher on Thursday as chipmaker stocks rebounded sharply ahead of SK Hynix’s highly anticipated Nasdaq debut on July 10, while investors shrugged off mounting geopolitical risks involving the U.S. and Iran. 

The S&P 500 ended 0.8% higher, while the Nasdaq 100 rose 1.3% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.3%. The Russell 2000, which tracks stocks with small market capitalizations, gained 1.2%.

Among ETFs tracking benchmark indexes, the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY) gained 0.8% and Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) ended Thursday around 1.6% higher, while the SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF Trust (DIA) rose 0.3%. 

Meanwhile, the VanEck Semiconductor ETF (SMH) added 2.5%, amid gains in chipmaker stocks including Broadcom (AVGO) and Micron Tech (MU). The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOX) rose nearly 3%.

 The Vanguard Information Technology ETF (VGT) jumped about 2%, taking support from sharp gains in Meta (META), Tesla (TSLA), Amazon (AMZN) and Apple (AAPL) stock. 

Retail sentiment on Stocktwits for SPY, QQQ and DIA was between ‘extremely bullish’ and ‘bullish’ zones with ‘normal’ to ‘high’ message volumes.

US Market Drivers

The strength in chipmaker stocks, along with the wider AI play will be put to the test ahead of SK Hynix’s highly anticipated debut due on Friday. The South Korea-based memory chip maker’s U.S. listing was reportedly more than seven times oversubscribed, according to Bloomberg. 

South Korean equities entered bear market territory on Wednesday, with both Samsung's and SK Hynix’s stock seeing significant drops. Some investors continue to doubt the rapid increases in chipmaker and memory stock values and the ability of these companies to meet such booming demand. 

Meanwhile, the United States carried out a second consecutive day of new military operations against Iran, according to U.S. Central Command. This latest wave of operations was initiated following Tehran's strikes on commercial vessels near the Strait of Hormuz, a vital maritime channel where shipping traffic has slowed as a result.

“It’s highly inflationary and highly uncertain,” Megan Horneman, chief investment officer at Verdence told CNBC in an interview. “It could end tomorrow. It could turn into a bigger event. We don’t know that. So in that event, you just have to be well diversified globally in your equity exposure.” 

Alternatively, Matt Maley at Miller Tabak told Bloomberg that “Investors are much more focused on the upcoming earnings season than they are on the geopolitical front.” 

Trending Stocks To Watch 

Oracle (ORCL): S&P Global Ratings downgraded the software maker to the lowest investment-grade rating.

Starbucks (SBUX): The coffee chain is turning to AI to build its own business applications, aiming to reduce its reliance on legacy technology providers such as Microsoft and IBM. 

TeraWulf (WULF): The company plans to raise around $3.5 billion in debt to finance an Anthropic-leased data centre campus in Kentucky. The financing would mark TeraWulf's first-ever foray into the leveraged loan market. 

Palo Alto Networks (PANW): Artificial intelligence token prices must plunge by as much as 90% before the technology can achieve widespread, sustainable enterprise adoption according to Palo Alto Networks Chairman and CEO Nikesh Arora. 

Fate Therapeutics Inc (FATE): The U.S. Food and Drug Administration cleared its application to commence a clinical trial for its cell therapy FT839. 

Read More: PANW, OpenAI, Anthropic In Focus — Nikesh Arora Says Wider AI Adoption Needs 90% Lower Token Costs

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