Tech Giants and Chipmakers Propel Wall Street Rebound Amid Cooling Inflation

Major US indexes surge as a massive 15.5% Microsoft rally and surging semiconductor stocks offset mixed economic data and slowing spring growth.

The S&P 500 rallied 1.7% and more than recovered its drop from the day before, which was its worst in seven weeks. The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 613 points (1.2%). The Nasdaq composite which is full of artificial-intelligence stocks, rallied 2.8% a day after it fell 9.8% below its record set last month.

In the oil market, prices eased. Brent crude, the international standard, fell 1.4% to settle at $86.88 per barrel. It had swung as low as $72 early this month and as high as $102 last week on uncertainty about whether the United States and Iran could reach a deal to allow oil tankers to move freely again from the Middle East to customers worldwide.

Reports suggested the U.S. economy?s growth slowed by more during the spring than economists expected. A measure of Inflation remained worse last month than the Federal Reserve?s target but it slowed from May?s level.

Microsoft shares surged 15.5%?their best day in nearly 18 years?driven by strong Azure cloud growth, AI adoption, and restrained spending compared to tech rivals. Meanwhile, Meta fell 8% after reporting weaker-than-expected profits and raising its forecast for AI investments. Amid these contrasting results, semiconductor suppliers like Micron Technology rebounded with an 18.4% jump. This recovery eased market anxieties over inflated tech valuations and helped boost the broader S&P 500 index. Lam Research soared 18% after reporting stronger profit and revenue for the latest quarter than analysts expected. Chip giant Advanced Micro Devices rallied 13%. Jersey Mike?s Subs chain?s stock fell 6% in its first day of trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

Indexes were mixed in Europe and Asia. South Korea?s Kospi fell 1.2%, and France?s CAC 40 rose 0.9% for two of the world?s bigger moves.

In the bond market, longer-term treasury yields held steadier following their sharp accelerations Wednesday. They had jumped after the chairman of the Federal Reserve, Kevin Warsh, gave few clues about what the central bank will do with interest rates to combat the painfully high inflation that continues to hurt the country. The yield on the 10-year Treasury was 4.67%, the same as late Wednesday. The 30-year Treasury yield ticked up to 5.22% from 5.20%, a day after it shot up from 5.09%. Those yields move with investors? expectations for inflation and economic growth in upcoming years.

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