The U.S. stock market drifted to a mixed close Thursday as artificial-intelligence stocks lurched back up their roller-coaster ride, Apple raised prices on many of its products, and inflation kept squeezing the people who actually have to live with the consequences of these boardroom decisions. The S&P 500 slipped less than 0.1% after swinging between gains and losses, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.1%, and the Nasdaq composite fell 0.5%.
Who Gets the Bill
Apple on Thursday raised prices for many of its products, including increases of 15% to 20% for Mac computers, according to analysts. Its stock slumped 4.5% and was the single heaviest weight on the S&P 500. That is the clean little logic of corporate power: prices go up for buyers, while the market judges the company by how well it can keep extracting value.
The broad U.S. stock market got a lift from easing Treasury yields in the bond market, which regressed after a report showed inflation is behaving pretty much as economists expected. The report said that a measure of inflation hitting U.S. consumers accelerated to 4.1% last month from 3.8% in April, but the hope is that it is set to ease because of a drop-off in oil prices. The price for a barrel of Brent crude oil, the international standard, rose 2% to $75.36 Thursday. But it’s still well off its highs above $100 caused by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz because of the war, which slowed the global flow of oil. Earlier Thursday, it dropped near its roughly $72 price from before the war.
That helped the yield on the 10-year Treasury slip to 4.39% from 4.41% late Wednesday and from 4.56% earlier this month. Brian Jacobsen, chief economic strategist at Annex Wealth Management, said, “As long as gasoline prices trend lower, inflation expectations will likely follow suit.”
The AI Winners and the Rest
Micron Technology helped lead the market after the memory chip company reported much stronger profit and revenue for the latest quarter than analysts anticipated. Micron jumped 16.6% after reporting much stronger profit and revenue for the latest quarter than analysts expected and giving a stronger growth forecast for the current quarter than Wall Street expected. Micron had come into the day with a surge of 267% so far this year.
Qualcomm said late Wednesday that the acceleration of the AI era is forcing it to upgrade forecasts for its own growth in upcoming years. Qualcomm said it expects its revenue outside of handsets, including data centers, to hit $40 billion in its fiscal year of 2029, roughly double its prior target. Qualcomm’s stock rose 6.9%.
High yields in bond markets worldwide caused by worries about inflation are threatening to slow economies, and they have already sent rates higher for mortgages and other kinds of loans. High yields also hurt prices for investments, particularly those seen as the most expensive. That raises the pressure on AI winners.
In earlier trading Thursday, the S&P 500 rose 0.3% after swinging between gains and losses in the morning. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 227 points, or 0.4%, as of 2:24 p.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.1% lower.
Markets Abroad Follow the Same Script
In stock markets abroad, South Korea’s Kospi jumped 5.4% after its own AI winners shot higher, including a 13.1% surge for SK Hynix. Other markets also rallied, including gains of 4.6% for Japan’s Nikkei 225 and 0.7% for the United Kingdom’s FTSE 100. A 1.4% drop for Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was an outlier.
The day’s trading showed once again how the fortunes of ordinary people are dragged around by price hikes, inflation reports, oil shocks, and the speculative fever of a handful of tech names. The market’s little spasms may be celebrated on trading desks, but the costs show up in higher mortgage rates, higher loan rates, and higher prices for the people outside the casino.