Nasdaq falls again on mixed day for US stocks, oil prices rise

World

Apple shares fell after price increases, while Micron rose on strong AI-related earnings.

26 Jun 2026 05:28AM

NEW YORK: The Nasdaq fell for the fourth straight session Thursday (Jun 25) behind weakness in Apple and other tech giants while oil prices pushed higher after a cargo ship was attacked in the Strait of Hormuz.

The cargo ship was damaged by an unknown projectile off the Omani coast in the strategic strait on Thursday, prompting the International Maritime Organisation to halt an evacuation of crews trapped by the US-Iran war.

Oil prices - which have been in retreat following the US-Iran announcement of a peace deal - rose more than two per cent.

Wall Street indices finished mixed following a choppy session.

US stocks had opened higher following blowout results from chip company Micron, but later hit a speedbump after Apple announced price hikes of laptop, tablets and other products, citing spiralling memory and storage costs sparked by the rise of artificial intelligence. Shares of Apple slid 6.2 per cent.

Both Amazon and Microsoft also fell after EU antitrust commissioner Teresa Ribera said the tech giants should face tougher digital competition rules in Europe because of their dominant position in cloud computing.

Other tech companies in the so-called "Magnificent Seven" also fell, but by smaller percentages.

Micron soared 15.8 per cent after it reported profits of US$28.2 billion on revenues of US$41.5 billion, staggering figures that underscored robust demand for artificial intelligence infrastructure.

Briefing.com described the outcome as "divergent tech performance," adding that the gains "continue to broaden" to other sectors. These include industrial companies such as Caterpillar, which surged 6.3 per cent.

The Micron earnings had also given a lift to South Korea's Kospi, which soared more than five percent due to tech share strength. Tokyo's Nikkei also had a good day, jumping 4.6 per cent.

US data included an upward revision in first-quarter growth to 2.1 per cent, while a key inflation reading in May showed personal consumption expenditures rising 4.1 per cent from a year ago.

While a three-year high for the inflation reading, analysts said that with oil prices falling, the figure made it unlikely the Fed would raise interest rates further than already expected in the coming months.

"The lack of an upside surprise allows investors to focus on nearer-term catalysts, including renewed strength in technology stocks on the back of Micron's powerful earnings-driven reaction," said Bret Kenwell, investment analyst at eToro.

Among individual companies, Bayer surged 18.7 per cent after the US Supreme Court handed the German pharmaceutical and agriculture company a big win in longrunning litigation over claims in US courts that its Roundup weedkiller causes cancer.

Ford climbed two percent after a prominent US consumer survey extolled the Michigan auto giant's quality performance, rating it first among mass market brands in a quality survey conducted with carmakers in the first 90 days of ownership.

Source: AFP/fs