The three main stock indexes on Wall Street ended mixed. Semiconductor shares weakened, while financials and health care advanced, pushing the Dow Jones Industrial Average to a record high again.
On the 4th (local time) at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 51,561.93, up 1.73% from the previous session. The Dow hit a record high on a closing basis. The Standard & Poor's (S&P) 500 rose 0.41% to 7,584.31, while the Nasdaq fell 0.09% to 26,830.96 at the close.
What dampened tech investor sentiment was the earnings of U.S. semiconductor corporations Broadcom. Broadcom's second-quarter results released the previous day fell short of market expectations, and it did not raise its full-year artificial intelligence (AI) chip sales outlook. Broadcom, seen as a beneficiary of the AI investment boom, plunged 12.59% on the day. Profit-taking also hit memory chip names that had led the market higher over the past two months. Micron Technology fell 7.74%, and SanDisk (-3.92%) and Western Digital (-3.13%) declined as well.
By contrast, financials and health care stocks gained. UnitedHealth rose 5.16% on the back of Wall Street securities firms' price-target hikes. Large-cap drugmakers also advanced, including Eli Lilly (4.31%) and Merck (4.85%).
Bank stocks climbed across the board. JPMorgan Chase rose 3.34%, Bank of America 3.38%, and Goldman Sachs 4.96%. Alternative asset managers also advanced, including Blackstone (7.50%), Ares Management (6.01%), and KKR (5.45%).
Global oil prices fell on news of easing tensions in the Middle East. As reports emerged that Israel and Lebanon had reached a surprise agreement to implement a cease-fire, Brent futures fell 2.8% to $95.03 a barrel, and West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures dropped 3.1% to $93.04 a barrel at the close of the transaction.