Wall Street mixed as Micron surges and Apple slides
US markets ended in mixed territory on Thursday, with the signals pointing in contradictory directions. Micron Technology surged nearly 16% to a record high after earnings and forecasts comfortably beat Wall Street estimates, reinforcing the view that demand for memory chips remains robust. Sandisk jumped 22% in the same session.
Apple moved sharply in the other direction, sliding 6.1% after announcing steep price increases for iPads and MacBooks. The company attributed the hikes to the surging cost of memory and storage chips, raising questions about whether big tech will increasingly face margin pressure as the AI supply chain heats up.
The S&P 500 closed near flat, the Dow added 0.14%, and the Nasdaq fell 0.46%. The Nasdaq is now on course for its biggest monthly decline since March 2025. The mixed picture reflects a market that is trying to weigh genuine earnings strength in semiconductors against the broader cost implications for the rest of the tech ecosystem.
US inflation data also crossed the wire, with the personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index rising 4.1% in the year to May, breaking above 4% for the first time since April 2023. That matched forecasts, and Fed officials were careful in their language, but traders still nudged up the probability of at least one rate rise before year-end.