Dow Hits Record as Chip Stocks Drag Nasdaq

Wall Street ended lower after stronger-than-expected U.S. jobs data lifted Treasury yields and triggered a selloff in chip stocks. On June 5, the Nasdaq fell 4% to 25,709; the Dow dropped 695 points to 50,866 and the S&P 500 fell 200 to 7,383. U.S.-traded chipmakers lost over $1 trillion in value, Reuters said, with Nvidia, Micron and AMD hit after Broadcom’s weak report.

UnitedHealth shares rose more than 5% to about $396 on Thursday after Bank of America upgraded the stock to “buy” and raised its price target to $450 from $420, citing improving medical cost trends that have pressured margins. The analysts said new data makes it less likely that strong Q1 results were temporary. The move helped lift the Dow.

Costco said on its quarterly earnings call that demand for gas has surged, with some stations needing tanker trucks multiple times daily to avoid running dry. CEO Roland Vachris attributed strong traffic to low prices, which typically undercut local stations by about 30 cents/gal. Costco said gas margins are thin but membership fees drive profit; gas added ~0.1 percentage point to gross margin in 2024 when prices were under $3, but subtracted 0.2 points last quarter.

Wall Street closed lower on June 5 after stronger-than-expected U.S. jobs data pushed Treasury yields higher and triggered a selloff in chip stocks, according to Reuters. The Nasdaq fell 4% to 25,709, the S&P 500 dropped to 7,383, and the Dow fell to 50,866. U.S.-traded chipmakers lost over $1 trillion in value. The 10-year yield rose above 4.5%; the dollar hit an eight-week high; gold fell ~2% and Bitcoin slipped to about $62,000.

U.S. stocks fell sharply Friday, the worst day since October, as a sell-off in major technology companies weighed on the market. The S&P 500 dropped 2.6%, the Dow fell 1.4%, and the Nasdaq fell 4.2%. Bond yields rose after a Labor Department report showed 172,000 jobs added in May, about double forecasts, increasing expectations for Fed rate hikes.

Wall Street ended a nine-week winning streak on June 5, with tech and chip stocks leading declines after a hot May jobs report raised rate-hike fears. The Labor Department said jobs rose 172,000 and unemployment held at 4.3%. The S&P 500 fell 2.63% to 7,384.67, Nasdaq dropped 4.16% to 25,713.58, and Dow lost 1.33% to 50,877.40. Nvidia, Intel, Micron, AMD and Broadcom fell.