U.S. Three Major Indexes Open Higher; Memory Chip and Optical Communication Sectors Strengthen; Intel Rises Nearly 9%
Claire Weston
US stocks opened broadly higher Thursday, with the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index up 2.79% leading the way; Intel surged 8.45% on a double upgrade from BofA, while Oracle dropped over 13% on higher capex plans and Trump's threat to strike Iran rattled oil and equity futures.
How much did the three indices gain?
The S&P 500 opened at 7,299.44, up 0.45%; the Dow at 50,163.08, up 0.49%; the Nasdaq Composite at 25,309.63, up 0.56%.
The Nasdaq 100 rose 0.79%; the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index surged 2.79%, far outpacing the broader market.
This means → capital is clearly favoring chips today — semiconductors are the session's leading theme.
Why did Intel jump nearly 9% in one session?
Intel opened up 8.45% after Bank of America double-upgraded the stock from Underperform straight to Buy.
BofA's rationale: agentic AI — a new paradigm where AI autonomously executes multi-step tasks — is drawing growing attention, and CPU demand is rising as a result.
This means → the market is reassessing Intel; if AI runs on more than just GPUs, the valuation case for CPU makers needs rewriting.
Peers rallied in sympathy: AMD up 2.56%, Qualcomm 1.77%, Nvidia 1.01%, TSMC 1.05%.
Why did Oracle sell off against the trend?
Oracle opened down more than 13% after disclosing a higher capital-expenditure plan.
Investors are asking: can the money being poured into AI infrastructure earn a return soon enough?
In plain terms = Oracle said "we'll spend more to build AI," and the market replied, "you're spending — where's the profit?"
The flip side: Oracle's bigger spend lifts order expectations for chip-equipment makers.
Who is leading the memory and optical networking rally?
Memory chips: Micron up 1.90%, Western Digital up 0.49%, SanDisk up 3.31%.
Optical networking and AI data-center connectivity: Marvell up 3.80%, Nokia up 0.97%.
This means → the "pick-and-shovel" plays of AI compute expansion — memory and interconnect — continue to benefit from this cycle.
How is the Iran situation affecting the tape?
Trump posted on Truth Social that the US military would launch a "powerful strike" on Iran "tonight," mentioning seizing Kharg Island and other oil-infrastructure nodes.
Per the Financial Times, the statement came after US and Iranian forces exchanged fire early Thursday.
International oil prices surged; US equity futures came under short-term pressure.
In plain terms = the market is repricing the risk that Iran's energy exports get cut off — oil up, stocks pressured, geopolitical risk has not left the building.
Content is for reference only, not financial advice.