CORRECT: Dow hits record as chips sell-off continues

(AWP Alliance News) - Semiconductors continued their decline on Thursday, though stocks ended the week higher, with the Dow Jones reaching another record close.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 594.83 points, 1.1%, at a record 52,900.07. The S&P 500 rose just 0.01 point to 7,483.24. The Nasdaq Composite ended down 207.36 points, 0.8%, at 25,832.67.

For the week, the DJIA gained 2.1%, S&P rose 1.9% and the Nasdaq climbed 2.2%.

"This is a rotation potentially out of a sector that's been red hot for the last few months and into other areas, but I also do think that there's a little bit of a revaluation of the AI trade in itself," Savvy Wealth Chief Investment Officer Anshul Sharma told CNBC. "If companies are more sensitive to the cost of compute, is that going to be the next area that they're going to focus on?"

Micron and General Motors on Wednesday announced an agreement to secure long-term supply of high-performance memory and storage for GM's next-generation vehicle platforms.

The deal formalises a multi-year commitment that supports GM's production planning and strengthens semiconductor resilience across the US automotive sector.

Under the agreement, Micron will supply high-performance memory and storage while the companies deepen collaboration on future technologies needed for advanced driver assistance, autonomous features and in-cabin computing.

GM closed up 0.6%. Micron closed down 5.5%. Peers SanDisk and Western Digital shed 14% an 9.9%, respectively.

Chipmakers Broadcom, Nvidia and AMD lost 2.4%, 1.8% and 5.1%.

Ford on Thursday said first-half sales surpassed 1.0 million vehicles, supported by strong demand for trucks, large sport utility vehicles and entry-level models, although second-quarter sales declined due to model phase-outs and lower rental sales.

The carmaker said total sales in the first half of 2026 reached 1.0 million vehicles, while its estimated June retail market share rose by 0.2 percentage point to 12.3%.

Second-quarter sales fell 10% to 549,200 vehicles, reflecting the planned phase-out of the Ford Escape and Lincoln Corsair, as well as a 69% drop in daily rental sales.

Ford closed down 2.1%

Tesla on Thursday posted higher vehicle production and deliveries in its second-quarter compared with a year earlier.

Total production amounted to 451,758 units in the second quarter, up 10% from 410,244 for the same period in 2025. Deliveries totalled 480,126 units, up 25% from 384,122.

Production of Model 3/Y vehicles increase to 442,936 units from 396,835 on-year, while deliveries ticked up to 467,762 units from 373,728.

Tesla lost 7.5%.

The US labour market added markedly fewer jobs than expected last month, data on Thursday showed, though the unemployment rate declined.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 57,000 in June, from 129,000 in May.

The latest data fell short of the FXStreet cited consensus, which had pencilled in a payrolls rise of 110,000.

The May data saw a sharp downward revision from an initially reported 172,000. The April reading was revised down to 148,000 from a previously reported 179,000.

The jobless rate eased to 4.2% in June, from 4.3% in May, where it had been expected to remain, according to FXStreet.

"The labor market is still remarkably resilient, especially in view of the oil price shock a few months ago. However, the June jobs report does throw some cold water on earlier signs of a material strengthening in labor market conditions. Nonfarm payrolls rose by much less than expected in June, while job growth in the preceding two months was revised lower. The unemployment rate ticked lower, but this was attributable to a large drop in the labor force," Oxford Economics wrote.

The yield on the 10-year US Treasury widened to % on Thursday from 4.48%. The 30-year yield rose to % from 4.97%.

Against the dollar, the euro was at USD1.1432 on Thursday, up from USD1.1380 on Tuesday. Sterling rose to USD1.3346 from USD1.3281. Against the yen, the dollar fell to JPY161.12 from JPY162.53.

A barrel of Brent was quoted at USD71.59 late Thursday, up from USD71.29 on Wednesday. West Texas Intermediate rose to USD68.44 from USD68.22.

Gold rose to USD4,120.80 an ounce late Thursday from USD4,054.05 on Wednesday.

In Europe, London's FTSE 100 closed up 1.7%, as did the CAC 40 in Paris. The DAX 40 in Frankfurt rose 2.2%.

In China, the Shanghai Composite ended down 2.0%. The Hang Seng climbed 0.8% in Hong Kong. The Nikkei 225 in Tokyo fell 2.5%. The S&P/ASX 200 ended marginally higher in Sydney.

Friday's global economic diary has China, Europe and Japan PMI data. US markets are closed for Independence Day.

By Aidan Lane, Alliance News reporter

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