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Luke Kawa

US stocks close at session highs to post solid gain

The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq 100 closed at their highs of the day with solid gains, while the Russell 2000 retreated on Thursday.

At the sector level, advances were widespread, with 8 of 11 S&P 500 sector ETFs up on the day. Energy stocks dropped, and were at the bottom of that leaderboard.

Nvidia climbed as enthusiasm for the picks-and-shovels AI trade returns and Morgan Stanley doubled down on the chip designer as its top pick in the sector. Meta booked its 14th consecutive day in the green, a record for the stock. Its Magnificent 7 peer Tesla headed lower amid disastrous European sales figures.

Skyworks Solutions, a key supplier to Apple, was the worst-performing S&P 500 constituent, shedding about a quarter of its value after the company revealed that it’s about to lose a big chunk of its iPhone business.

Despite posting very solid results, Qualcomm tumbled as investors doubt that strength in the smartphone market will have staying power.

America is one natZyn under Philip Morris, as the company’s oral products shipments ramped in the final three months of 2024, fueling a massive gain for the stock.

Way better-than-expected quarterly results along with improved guidance propelled luxury goods makers Ralph Lauren and Tapestry sharply higher.

Palantir Technologies was also one of the top performers in the S&P 500, with its market cap surpassing the likes of McDonald’s and American Express.

Ford had an abysmal session after telling investors that 2025 would be worse than 2024 from a profitability perspective.

Peloton soared as its earnings report and guidance for the current quarter bolstered resolve that its path toward profitability is at hand.

Roblox, on the other hand, was crushed as its daily active user count heads in the wrong direction.

Trump Media & Technology Group also made waves by filing for trademarks for a slew of ETFs, including one that would hold bitcoin.

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Chicago Bulls player Michael Jordan is surrounded by NBA Championship trophies after his team defeated the Utah Jazz 90-86 to win the 1997 NBA Finals at the United Center in Chicago, IL.

Stock climb on US-Iran peace deal; semiconductors rally

This morning, President Trump and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian signed a memorandum of understanding aimed at ending the war.

markets

Intel surges after Trump announces US chip deal with Apple

Intel is soaring in early trading after President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social that Apple has agreed to work with the semiconductor giant to design and manufacture its chips domestically.

President Trump positioned the agreement as the latest victory for his administration’s industrial policy after the federal government acquired a 9.9% equity stake in Intel last year.

"Stupid Presidents took our Economy for granted, and let Taiwan and others steal our Semiconductor Factories," Trump wrote in the post. "We design everything, but we need to BUILD it here, NOW! So I decided to help Intel because we need to design and build our Chips right here in America... and, finally, Apple has agreed to work with Intel to design and build its Chips in America."

Intel reportedly reached a preliminary agreement back in May to manufacture chips for the Apple, which has been facing supply constraints for its iPhone as well other products. The deal could help Apple reduce its reliance on longtime partner TSMC by bringing more of its chip manufacturing stateside.

"This partnership helps Apple with chip development and manufacturing on US soil with greater focus on reducing dependence on Asian manufacturing facilities." Wedbush's Dan Ives commented in a company report. He has a $400 price target for Apple this year.

The timing aligns with Intel's technical roadmap. Earlier this week, Intel confirmed that its advanced, performance-boosted 18A-P process node officially entered its risk production phase. This move serves as a blueprint for both Intel chips and processors the company plans to build for foundry customers.

“The current capacity crunch is probably emboldening customers to give Intel a harder look at this stage than perhaps they might ordinarily be inclined to do as the prospect of more advanced capacity will take on higher value in a constrained environment,” wrote Bernstein analyst Stacy Rasgon. “We are sure that Trump’s encouragement is at least not going to hurt though.”

Momentum was built around Intel Foundry services as surging global AI demand continuously outpaced capacity. Earlier this month, Google reportedly placed an order with Intel to manufacture more than 3 million of its increasingly popular tensor processing unit chips in 2028. According to the report, Nvidia is also testing to see if Intel could manufacture its next-gen Feynman chips.

markets

Stocks rise after US, Iran sign peace plan

Stocks rose Thursday morning after President Trump and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian signed a memorandum of understanding aimed at ending the war, in another sign that a months-long war that caused energy prices to spike could be coming to an end.

Trump signed the MOU before a dinner in Versailles, France on Wednesday evening. The president previously announced that a deal had been reached on Sunday evening, saying that traffic through the Strait of Hormuz would resume and that the US naval blockade would be lifted.

The deal comes after both sides exchanged attacks last week, escalating tensions to some of the highest levels since the US and Israel struck Iran in late February.

The price of Brent Crude ticked even lower after dropping on Sunday, sitting at about $76 a barrel. Oil giants like Shell, Chevron and Exxon fell on the news, as average gas prices in the US dropped below $4 for the first time in months.

Futures for the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite rose 0.9% and 1.5%, respectively. Last week, inflation readings for May showed both wholesale inflation and consumer prices rose in large part because of higher energy costs.

Signs of the peace deal have also lead to buying of momentum stocks this week. iShares MSCI USA Momentum Factor ETFrose another 1.46% in premarket trading.

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