Tech stocks lift S&P, Nasdaq, Intel’s drop and geopolitics cap gains

NEW YORK: The S&P 500 and Nasdaq ticked higher as investors piled into some mega-cap stocks, but Intel’s plunge on a downbeat outlook and lingering geopolitical tensions sapped overall risk appetite.

Stocks had rebounded in the past two sessions following Tuesday’s sharp selloff triggered by US President Donald Trump’s threats to impose tariffs on European allies until Washington was allowed to buy Greenland.

Trump later tempered tariff threats and ruled out taking Greenland by force. The S&P 500 and Dow were on track for modest weekly declines while the Nasdaq edged toward a small gain. Persistent safe-haven demand pushed gold to a record and lifted silver above USD100 an ounce for the first time.

A big drag on Friday was chipmaker Intel, which sank 15.6percent. The company forecast quarterly revenue and profit below market estimates, saying it struggled to satisfy demand for its server chips used in AI data centers. Its shares have risen about 25percent since the start of the year. An index of semiconductors fell 1percent, off its record high hit in the previous session, while Wall Street’s fear gauge ticked up after falling for the past two sessions. “Some of these AI stocks have been inflated dramatically and they’re going to need to start showing more than just hope, some real plans there,” said Joe Saluzzi, partner and co-founder at Themis Trading.

At 11:35 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 238.52 points, or 0.48percent, to 49,145.49, the S&P 500 gained 9.86 points, or 0.14percent, to 6,923.21 and the Nasdaq Composite gained 112.84 points, or 0.48percent, to 23,548.86.

A fresh bid for some mega-cap tech stocks buoyed the benchmark index as investors leaned into familiar names. Microsoft and Netflix were up 3percent each while Meta and Amazon rose 2.3percent each. Nvidia rose 1.6percent after Bloomberg News reported Chinese officials have told Alibaba, Tencent and ByteDance they can prepare orders for Nvidia’s H200 AI chips. Many of the so-called Magnificent Seven stocks, including Apple, Tesla and Microsoft, are set to report earnings next week. Traders will be listening closely to management outlooks for clues on how much runway is left in the growth narrative that has helped prop up their premium valuations. “We’ve got the S&P 500 at very rich valuations led by the Mag Sevens. We are certainly looking at the earnings and it’s one of these things where you can’t just meet expectations. You’re going to need to see meet and beats and guidance potentially raised,” Saluzzi added.