NEW YORK: The Dow scaled an all-time high and the S&P 500 rose on Thursday, lifted by UnitedHealth and financials shares, while Broadcom’s results fell short of high investor expectations, dragging down chip stocks and the Nasdaq.
Broadcom shares slumped 14 percent after the chipmaker also maintained its long-range forecast of USD100 billion in sales from its AI chips.
The stock has climbed nearly 55 percent this quarter and could shed nearly USD320 billion in market value if losses hold through the session.
The S&P 500 tech index dropped the most, down 1.8 percent, while the Philadelphia SE Semiconductor index tumbled 2.8 percent. “Broadcom earnings (were) good news other than the fact that their guidance wasn’t what the market may have been expecting,” said Dustin Thackeray, chief investment officer at Crewe Advisors.
“The chips are due for a bit of a breather. Obviously, they’ve had a tremendous run-up from end of March lows.” After a weak start to the session, the S&P 500 turned higher as a rotation out of tech shares boosted other areas of the market, with nine out of 11 major S&P 500 sectors in the green. Healthcare shares added 3.1 percent, aided by a 5.7 percent advance in UnitedHealth after Bank of America raised its rating on the healthcare conglomerate’s shares to “buy.”
The financial index rose 1.8 percent after a sharp fall in the previous session on renewed concerns over private credit.
Blackstone became the latest asset manager to cap withdrawals from its flagship private credit fund following a rise in redemption requests.
The rally on Wall Street has stalled this week as investors weigh a renewed flare-up in hostilities between the United States and Iran.
Although the two sides agreed to a ceasefire in early April, talks to end the war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz have made little progress, threatening to keep oil prices elevated and stoke inflation. At 11:29 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 862.27 points, or 1.70 percent, to 51,549.34, the S&P 500 gained 19.32 points, or 0.26 percent, to 7,573.00 and the Nasdaq Composite lost 51.21 points, or 0.19 percent, to 26,802.76.
Comments