On June 24 local time, the three major US stock indexes were mixed.
After a brief tech sell-off, global stocks stabilized Wednesday. Micron reported Q3 adjusted gross margin of 84.9%, beating estimates, and shares surged 14.69% after hours. Meanwhile, oil fell to near four-month lows and the dollar rose to a one-year high.
The Dow rose 182.06 points, or 0.35%, to 51,848.90; the Nasdaq fell 110.40 points, or 0.43%, to 25,476.64; the S&P 500 fell 7.24 points, or 0.10%, to 7,358.22.
Micron as AI barometer
By sector, six of the 11 S&P 500 sectors rose and five fell. Industrials and utilities led gainers, up 1.18% and 1.05% respectively; energy and tech led decliners, down 1.73% and 0.64%.
Most mega-cap tech stocks fell. Oracle fell over 4%, Qualcomm over 3%, Microsoft over 2%, Tesla and Netflix over 1%, ASML, Meta, NVIDIA, Intel, Apple, Micron, Google-A, AMD edged down; Amazon and Broadcom edged up; TSMC and Boeing rose over 1%.
Micron closed down 0.31% with volume of $67.1 billion. After-hours, Micron reported revenue up sharply from $9.3 billion a year ago. For the current quarter, the company expects revenue of about $50 billion, versus $11.3 billion a year ago. According to LSEG, analysts had forecast $43.58 billion. Third-quarter revenue more than quadrupled. The stock rose 14.69% after hours. Micron is one of the biggest beneficiaries of the surge in demand driven by billions in AI infrastructure spending. Despite dropping 13% on Tuesday, the stock is still up over 250% year-to-date 2026.
Most financial stocks fell. MetLife, Deutsche Bank, BlackRock fell over 3%, Morgan Stanley over 2%, Charles Schwab, UBS, Goldman Sachs, Barclays, Mizuho over 1%, Citi, AIG, Bank of America, JPMorgan edged down; US Bancorp, Wells Fargo, Regions Financial, Hartford, Allstate edged up; Visa, Travelers, Mastercard, Capital One, American Express rose over 1%.
Most energy stocks fell. BP, Petrobras fell over 3%, ConocoPhillips, Apache, Chevron, Schlumberger, Shell, Occidental, Exxon Mobil over 2%, Imperial Oil over 1%; Duke Energy up over 1%.
Most popular Chinese ADRs fell. The Nasdaq Golden Dragon China Index (HXC) fell 1.77%. Kingsoft Cloud fell over 4%, NIO over 3%, iQiyi, Alibaba, JD.com, XPeng, Baidu over 2%, Li Auto, Huya, NetEase, PDD over 1%, Tencent Music, New Oriental edged down; Tiger Brokers, Futu Holdings edged up; Vipshop, Ctrip up over 1%, Bilibili up over 3%.
Dollar hits new 2026 high
Despite relatively stable stock markets, the dollar continued to benefit from safe-haven demand as risk sentiment remains fragile.
Supported by expectations of Fed rate hikes this year and the recent global tech sell-off. The dollar rose 0.3% against a basket of major currencies, extending gains for a third straight day, on track for its longest winning streak in over a month, and cementing its highest level of the year. The Fed signaled last week it may tighten policy by year-end, prompting markets to price in rate hike expectations.
LSEG market pricing shows a 90% probability of a 25 bps Fed rate hike in September. Strong US PMI data on Tuesday reinforced these bets.
The tech sell-off also boosted the dollar due to its safe-haven status.
Oil continues to slide
Meanwhile, oil extended losses as more tankers openly cross the Strait of Hormuz. International oil prices fell significantly on Wednesday. Light crude for August delivery on NYMEX fell $2.87 to close at $70.34 a barrel, a drop of 3.92%; Brent crude for August delivery on London ICE fell $3.34 to close at $73.74, a drop of 4.33%.
The oil drop pushed US diesel prices below $5 a gallon for the first time since mid-March.
As inflation concerns eased, US Treasuries rose slightly, with the 10-year yield falling 2 bps to 4.48%.
Significant uncertainty remains as the US and Iran give conflicting accounts of what was agreed in the peace deal, including key issues such as verification and control of the Strait of Hormuz.
US sanctions waivers on Iranian oil sales also boosted sentiment, reinforcing expectations that regional crude supply will increase significantly.
Gold plunges intraday
Spot gold lost $3,960/oz, down 3.66% intraday. A stronger dollar made dollar-priced gold more expensive for buyers.
Although gold is seen as a safe-haven investment, it tends to fall during major cross-market sell-offs as it serves as a source of liquidity. The tech rout added further pressure on gold, which was already under pressure from inflation concerns, as inflation risk means the Fed will raise rates.
