Dow rises 80 points as chip stocks rebound ahead of Fed minutes, earnings season

Dow rises 80 points as chip stocks rebound ahead of Fed minutes, earnings season

US stocks opened higher on Monday, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq looking to extend last week’s rally.

Investors welcomed a rebound in semiconductor shares while preparing for the release of Federal Reserve meeting minutes and the start of the second-quarter earnings season later this week.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 83 points as the blue-chip index closed at a record high before the Independence Day holiday, putting it within the reach of the 53,000 level for the first time.

The S&P 500 gained 0.48%, while the Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.87%.

The major indexes each gained around 2% last week, even as semiconductor stocks lost momentum.

Investors instead rotated into sectors such as healthcare, industrials and financials, supporting a broader market advance.

Chip stocks rebound after recent weakness

Technology shares led gains on Monday, with semiconductor and storage companies recovering after recent declines.

Broadcom rose 5.8% after the chipmaker and Apple agreed to expand their partnership through 2031 to develop and supply a range of custom chips.

Memory chipmakers also rallied, with Western Digital climbing 8.6%, Seagate advancing 5.7%, and Micron Technology gaining 1.7%.

The broader technology sector strengthened as well.

The Technology Select Sector SPDR ETF rose more than 1%, helped by a 5.22% gain in Teradyne, while Marvell Technology and Oracle rose more than 2.88% and 1.28%, respectively.

The rebound followed two consecutive weekly declines for the VanEck Semiconductor ETF, which fell 3.2% last week as investors trimmed exposure to chipmakers after their strong gains earlier this year.

Elsewhere, South Korean memory chipmaker SK Hynix is set to begin trading its US listing on Monday in a deal expected to raise about $28 billion.

SpaceX shares also edged 1.6% higher ahead of the company’s planned inclusion in the Nasdaq-100 on Tuesday.

Earnings season and Fed remain in focus

Investor attention is also turning toward the second-quarter earnings season, which begins to gather pace later this week.

Delta Air Lines and PepsiCo are among the companies scheduled to report results in the coming days.

According to LSEG data, S&P 500 companies are expected to post year-over-year earnings growth of 24.4% during the second quarter.

Markets are also awaiting the minutes from the Federal Reserve’s June meeting, the first chaired by Kevin Warsh, due for release on Wednesday.

Rate hike expectations eased following last week’s weaker-than-expected US jobs report.

According to CME FedWatch data, traders now see a 24% chance of a 25-basis-point rate increase at the Fed’s July meeting, down from about 30% a week earlier. Expectations for a September rate hike have also eased.

Fed Governor Christopher Waller is also scheduled to speak later on Monday, while investors will monitor the latest ISM services survey, which is expected to show only a modest easing in activity to a still-expansionary reading of 54.0.

Global markets mixed as investors assess outlook

Outside the United States, trading was more subdued.

Europe’s STOXX 600 slipped 0.5%, while Asia-Pacific markets finished mixed. Japan’s Nikkei 225 ended little changed and the broader Topix rose 0.92%. South Korea’s Kospi fell 0.46%, while the Kosdaq declined 2.46%.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 slipped 0.15%, China’s CSI 300 finished flat, and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng traded 0.81% higher.

The mixed global performance reflected cautious positioning as investors balanced expectations for corporate earnings, monetary policy and continued sector rotation following Wall Street’s strong performance last week.

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