US stocks mostly up as Micron jumps, inflation rises

NEW YORK: Wall Street mostly rose early Thursday as markets weighed mixed US economic data and blowout earnings from Micron that sent the chip company’s shares soaring.

US data included an upward revision in first-quarter growth to 2.1 percent, while a key inflation reading in May showed personal consumption expenditures rising 4.1 percent from a year ago.

Micron soared 12.7 percent after profits of $28.2 billion on revenues of $41.5 billion, staggering figures that underscored robust demand for artificial intelligence infrastructure.

But the Micron results failed to ignite a broad rally in technology shares.

About 15 minutes into trading, the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index was down 0.2 percent at 25,434.49.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.6 percent to 52,154.59, while the broad-based S&P 500 gained 0.2 percent to 7,375.17.

Micron is “the latest big AI company, a memory company, to show that demand is insatiable,” said Adam Sarhan of 50 Park Investments.

However, other semiconductor companies and AI players were mixed, likely reflecting continued concerns about lofty valuations.

Sarhan shrugged off the uptick in inflation, noting that crude prices have retreated to their lowest levels since the US-Iran war, following a preliminary deal to end the conflict.