(June 26) : A renewed wave of tech volatility gripped Wall Street, with a selloff in megacaps tempering optimism in other corners of the stock market that were buoyed by signs the economy is in good shape.
All Magnificent Seven firms fell, with Apple Inc. leading the way after boosting prices of Macs and iPads. The drop in the S&P 500’s most-influential group sent the index wavering. That’s even as a blowout outlook from Micron Technology Inc. boosted chipmakers. In a sign of rotation, the equity benchmark’s equal-weighted version — which strips out market-value biases — climbed.
Thursday’s session was a lesson in the “concentration risk” some analysts see as latent in a market whose upside has owed disproportionately to a narrow group of massive gainers. Tech behemoths had powered the bull run for much of the past few years, but investors have been questioning whether they should be diversifying away from longtime winners.
That degree of anxiety was on full display earlier this week when a selloff in chipmakers rattled trading around the globe on concerns over whether the billions of dollars spent on artificial intelligence will be justified. While those worries eased after Micron’s results, volatility in the tech industry remained elevated.
“We remain constructive and believe investors should stay invested, while keeping diversification at the center of portfolio construction,” said Ulrike Hoffmann-Burchardi at UBS Chief Investment Office. “The past few months have shown how quickly narratives can shift, how costly excess cash can become when markets move higher, and how single-stock selection represents both an opportunity and a risk.”
“A few cracks have developed in the tech sector recently,” said Matt Maley at Miller Tabak. “Therefore, we believe it will be extremely important to watch how these hyperscalers trade going forward because if they continue to decline, it’s going to make it very tough for the rest of the market to advance.”
See also: US stocks climb even as Apple price hikes offset chipmaker strength
Earlier in the day, sentiment was buoyed by data showing US consumer spending accelerated in May even as prices rose at the fastest pace in more than three years, suggesting Americans are powering through the fallout from the Iran war. A separate report showed the economy grew at an annualized 2.1% pace in the first quarter, faster than previously estimated.
While those figures will likely leave the Federal Reserve under pressure to keep interest rates elevated, the recent pullback in energy costs could help ease inflationary pressures in the months ahead. Those bets drove short-term Treasury yields lower.
“The worst of inflation and consumer angst may be mostly behind us,” said Brian Jacobsen at Annex Wealth Management. “As long as gasoline prices trend lower, inflation expectations will likely follow suit.”
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Still, after four days of declines, West Texas Intermediate crude rose. A ship was hit by an unknown projectile in the Strait of Hormuz, just hours after several freighters turned around while attempting to cross the vital waterway, developments that may undermine what had been a rapid reopening of the energy chokepoint.
uploaded by Isabelle Francis
