The Dow Jones ended a rangebound session with gains of 130 points, while the S&P 500 gained 0.8%. The Nasdaq outperformed for the second-day running, ending with gains of 1.3%.
Gains were led by the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index, which rose 3.1%. Chipmakers AMD, Intel, Broadcom, and Micron were among the biggest gainers, along with Meta, which also gained nearly 5% to close at the day’s high.
Why Meta Shares Gained 5% On Thursday?
Shares of the Facebook-parent opened lower but recovered all the losses to end at the day’s high after Reuters reported citing an internal company memo that it plans on manufacturing its own AI chip from September this year.
Additionally, CEO Mark Zuckerberg also said he is considering renting the company’s AI infrastructure to create an additional revenue stream.
What Led To The Surge in Micron Shares On Thursday?
Micron shares gained as much as 9% on Thursday before cooling off to end 5% higher after the company increased its spending plans to increase chip production in the US to $250 billion from $200 billion earlier.
The company has target of producing at least 40% of its DRAM products in the US by the next decade.
SK Hynix To Begin Trading Today
South Korean chip giant SK Hynix raised $26.5 billion through its IPO on Wall Street on Thursday, selling 177.9 million American Depository Receipts (ADRs) at a price of $149 apiece, which is at a 3% premium to the Korean stock’s closing price on Thursday.
The stock will begin trading on Friday, after its IPO saw oversubscription of 7 times the total number of shares on offer, making it the biggest listing of any foreign company on Wall Street and the third biggest in IPO history, following the recent SpaceX debut and Saudi Aramco in 2019.
Oil prices fell overnight despite tanker traffic declining through the Strait of Hormuz after the recent attacks by US and Iran on each other. Only 13 tankers crossed the region on Wednesday, according to Kpler, compared to the average of 33 tankers last week.
No major triggers are lined up for Wall Street today barring results from Delta Airlines. Results season begins in full force from next Tuesday, with major banks coming out with their quarterly numbers.
