NEW YORK (AP) 鈥� The U.S. stock market meandered to a mixed finish Thursday after several veered back up , while Apple dropped after hiking prices on many of its products.
The S&P 500 finished nearly unchanged with a dip of less than 0.1% after swinging between gains and losses throughout the day. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 71 points, or 0.1%, and the Nasdaq composite fell 0.5%.
Micron Technology helped lead the market after jumping 15.7%. The maker of computer memory reported much bigger profit and revenue for the latest quarter than analysts expected, and it gave a stronger growth forecast for the current quarter than Wall Street expected. That helped allay worries a bit that its stock had grown too expensive after coming into the day with a surge of 267% so far this year.
Micron and AI stocks broadly have been because of worries that their profits can鈥檛 possibly keep pace with the . But beyond Micron, Qualcomm said late Wednesday that the acceleration of the AI era is forcing it to upgrade forecasts for its own growth in upcoming years. They鈥檙e the latest signals of the and other investments.
Qualcomm said it expects its revenue outside of handsets, including data centers, to hit $40 billion in its fiscal year of 2029, roughly double its prior target. Qualcomm鈥檚 stock rose 3.8%.
But all the strong demand for computer memory and storage that鈥檚 driving profits and stock prices higher for producers is also leading to higher costs for customers. for many of its products, including increases of 15% to 20% for Mac computers, according to analysts. Its stock slumped 6.1% and was the single heaviest weight on the S&P 500.
SpaceX, meanwhile, fell 1% to drop below $153 for its lowest finish since on the Nasdaq earlier this month.
All told, the S&P 500 slipped 0.73 to 7,357.49 points. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 71.72 to 51,960.62, and the Nasdaq composite fell 118.03 to 25,358.60.
In the bond market, Treasury yields eased to lessen the pressure on stocks and other investment prices. They regressed after a report showed .
The report said that a measure of inflation hitting U.S. consumers accelerated to 4.1% last month from 3.8% in April, but the hope is that inflation is set to ease because of a drop-off in oil prices.
The price for a barrel of Brent crude oil, the international standard, rose 2.2% to $75.50 Thursday. But it鈥檚 still well off its highs above $100 caused by the closure of the because of the war, which slowed the global flow of oil. Earlier Thursday, it dropped near its roughly $72 price from before the war.
That helped the yield on the 10-year Treasury slip to 4.39% from 4.41% late Wednesday and from 4.56% earlier this month.
鈥淎s long as gasoline prices trend lower, inflation expectations will likely follow suit,鈥� according to Brian Jacobsen, chief economic strategist at Annex Wealth Management.
caused by worries about inflation are threatening to slow economies, and they have already sent rates higher for mortgages and other kinds of loans. High yields also hurt prices for investments, particularly those seen as the most expensive. That raises the pressure on AI winners.
In stock markets abroad, South Korea鈥檚 Kospi jumped 5.4% after its own AI winners shot higher, including a 13.1% surge for SK Hynix.
Other markets also rallied, including gains of 4.6% for Japan鈥檚 Nikkei 225 and 0.7% for the United Kingdom鈥檚 FTSE 100. A 1.4% drop for Hong Kong鈥檚 Hang Seng was an outlier.
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AP Business Writer Elaine Kurtenbach contributed to this report.
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