US close: Tech stocks lift markets as S&P 500, Nasdaq near record highs
By Benjamin Chiou
Date: Friday 27 Jun 2025
(Sharecast News) - US stocks jumped on Thursday, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq finishing just below their record highs despite some mixed economic data, with tech names providing a big lift.
The Dow gained 0.94% to 43,386.84, its highest since 28 February. The S&P 500 rose 0.80% to 6,141.02, its highest since 19 February when it settled at a record-high close of 6,144.15. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq jumped 0.97% to 20,167.91, not far off its all-time high of 20,173.89 registered on 16 December.
"A stonking performance by chipmaker Micron has boosted US tech stocks, propelling the S&P and Nasdaq towards fresh records and perhaps finally laying to rest the uncertainty created by DeepSeek's disruption earlier in the year," said Danni Hewson, head of financial analysis at AJ Bell.
"The genie is well and truly out of the bottle when it comes to businesses' desire to harness the AI superpower and Micron's bullish outlook suggests that trade tensions and global uncertainty haven't put companies off investing in tools that should boost productivity in the long run."
Also helping sentiment were reports that EU leaders are considering cutting tariffs on US imports in an effort to appease Donald Trump and secure a trade deal. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Thursday that the administration could extend the 9 July deadline it had in place to increase tariffs.
Economic data barrage
Thursday's primary focus was the news that the US economy contracted at a much faster pace than initially reported during the first quarter, according to the Commerce Department. GDP was 0.5% lower than the previous year, revised down from the -0.2% earlier esttimate, as consumer spending growth was slashed to 0.5% from 1.2% - the weakest rate in over four years.
Initial jobless claims fell by 10,000 to 236,000, according to the Labor Department, but comfortably under the 245,000 analysts had expected. Continuing claims, on the other hand, increased to 1.97m from 1.93m, while the four-week moving average, which aims to smooth out week-to-week volatility, decreased by 750 to 245,000.
The Chicago Federal Reserve's national activity index increased to -0.28 in May, up from a revised -0.36 reading in April. Although two of the four broad categories of indicators improved, three categories still delivered a negative contribution in May.
US pending home sales increased 1.1% year-on-year in May, according to the National Association of Realtors, marking the first annual rise in six months.
Lastly, durable goods orders surged 16.4% month-on-month in May to $343.6bn, according to the Census Bureau, following April's revised 6.6% slump and coming in well ahead of expectations for an 8.5% rise.
Market movers
Despite all the optimism surrounding Micron Technology's third-quarter results, shares in the chipmaker gave up earlier gains to finish down 2%, with analysts pointing to profit-taking after the stock surged by a third over the past month. The company smashed expectations with adjusted EPS of $1.91 and revenues of $9.3bn, compared with consensus forecasts of $1.60 and $8.9bn respectively.
Drugstore chain Walgreens Boots Alliance edged higher after third-quarter profits came in ahead of Wall Street expectations, helped by strong pharmacy sales.
Core Scientific was a high riser, jumping 33% on rumours that AI outfit CoreWeave could buy the bitcoin miner.
Dow Jones - Risers
Nike Inc. (NKE) $62.54 2.81%
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $381.72 2.77%
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $687.85 2.58%
3M Co. (MMM) $150.76 2.04%
Boeing Co. (BA) $202.58 1.85%
Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $121.46 1.71%
JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $288.75 1.65%
Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $68.95 1.55%
Dow Chemical Co. (DOW) $27.15 1.23%
Salesforce.Com Inc. (CRM) $270.62 1.11%
Dow Jones - Fallers
Walmart Inc. (WMT) $96.02 -1.27%
Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $78.83 -1.05%
Apple Inc. (AAPL) $201.00 -0.41%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $22.50 -0.35%
Coca-Cola Co. (KO) $69.47 -0.23%
Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) $158.68 -0.21%
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) $152.06 -0.18%
Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) $42.10 -0.05%
S&P 500 - Risers
Nektar Therapeutics (NKTR) $29.68 24.86%
Freeport-McMoRan Inc (FCX) $44.46 6.85%
Flowserve Corp. (FLS) $51.85 6.77%
Albemarle Corp. (ALB) $63.75 5.58%
Arista Networks Inc. (ANET) $101.71 5.48%
NRG Energy Inc. (NRG) $161.70 5.36%
McCormick & Co. (MKC) $77.57 5.34%
Lincoln National Corp. (LNC) $34.52 4.83%
CIGNA Corp. (CI) $328.55 4.43%
Royal Caribbean Cr (RCL) $296.02 4.06%
S&P 500 - Fallers
Equinix, Inc. (EQIX) $745.53 -17.03%
TripAdvisor Inc. (TRIP) $12.91 -4.23%
Abbott Laboratories (ABT) $133.70 -2.71%
American Airlines Group (AAL) $11.13 -2.45%
Tractor Supply Company (TSCO) $51.84 -2.37%
F5 Inc. (FFIV) $289.09 -2.09%
Monster Beverage Corp (MNST) $62.19 -2.09%
NetApp Inc. (NTAP) $104.75 -2.03%
Costco Wholesale Corp. (COST) $982.91 -1.94%
Charter Communications Inc. (CHTR) $394.01 -1.87%
Nasdaq 100 - Risers
Qvc Group Inc Series A (QVCGA) $2.87 5.90%
Vodafone Group Plc ADS (VOD) $10.66 3.44%
Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) $155.02 3.42%
Synopsys Inc. (SNPS) $495.70 3.28%
Incyte Corp. (INCY) $70.81 3.09%
Alphabet Inc. Class A (GOOGL) $173.54 3.07%
Alphabet Inc. Class C (GOOG) $174.43 3.03%
Illumina Inc. (ILMN) $94.16 2.77%
Seagate Technology Plc (STX) $140.69 2.33%
Booking Holdings Inc. (BKNG) $5,596.00 2.08%
Nasdaq 100 - Fallers
Tesla Inc (TSLA) $325.78 -3.95%
American Airlines Group (AAL) $11.13 -2.45%
Asml Holdings N.V. (ASML) $798.09 -2.16%
Monster Beverage Corp (MNST) $62.19 -2.09%
Costco Wholesale Corp. (COST) $982.91 -1.94%
Charter Communications Inc. (CHTR) $394.01 -1.87%
Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. (TTWO) $239.33 -1.82%
Ross Stores Inc. (ROST) $126.62 -1.21%
eBay Inc. (EBAY) $73.68 -1.15%
Verisk Analytics Inc. (VRSK) $305.13 -1.12%
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