US stock markets opened July on an uneven footing on Wednesday as Meta Platforms surged 11.3% after announcing plans to build a cloud business selling excess AI computing capacity, while semiconductor stocks sold off sharply, leaving major indices little changed overall.
The S&P 500 fell 0.2%, the Nasdaq 100 dropped 1.5% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed near flat. Chipmakers led the losses with Micron Technology down 10.6%, Intel falling 9%, AMD losing 6.9% and Applied Materials dropping 10%. Meta’s $179 billion single-session market cap gain was the largest on record for the company and single-handedly offset much of the tech sector’s losses.
The split came after private sector hiring data from ADP showed June payroll additions of just 98,000, below the 110,000 expected, suggesting the labour market may be cooling. All eyes now turn to Thursday’s June non-farm payrolls report, with consensus expecting around 170,000 new jobs. Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh, speaking at the ECB forum in Sintra, Portugal, said prices are too high and reaffirmed the Fed’s commitment to price stability without signalling a specific policy move, sending Treasury yields modestly higher to 4.48%.
WTI crude fell below $70 per barrel for the first time since before the Iran war began, offering some inflation relief.
