FOMO Buying Drives Chips Stock Bounce

Wall Street staged a solid comeback on Tuesday as dip buyers piled into battered semiconductor shares, lifting the Nasdaq 1.9% and the S&P 500 0.9% to 7,509. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index ripped 5.2% higher in its biggest daily gain in a month, with Micron up 12.2% and AMD up 8.1%, as hedge funds that had slashed long positions scrambled to rebuild ahead of mega-cap earnings. But the rally played out against a darkening geopolitical backdrop: Brent crude topped $91 a barrel after Houthi militants threatened to blockade Saudi Red Sea ports, oil tankers began u-turning, and the US completed a tenth straight day of strikes against Iran. Trump played down the prospect of talks, vowing to hit Iranian nuclear sites. Gold surged to $4,085 an ounce. ASX 200 futures point to a modest gain of 21 points to 8,763.The S&P 500 rose 0.9% to 7,509.20, the Nasdaq added 1.9%, and the Dow gained 0.7% to 52,224.64 as nine of eleven sectors advanced, led by a 2.35% rally in information technology.The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index surged 5.2% — its biggest single-day gain in a month — with Micron up 12.2%, SanDisk up 14.3%, and Western Digital up 12.5% as hedge funds scrambled to rebuild positions ahead of earnings.Brent crude jumped 2.4% to $91.35 a barrel after Houthi militants threatened a maritime blockade on Saudi Arabia, forcing oil tankers to u-turn in the Red Sea and choking a key workaround for Strait of Hormuz disruptions.The US completed a tenth straight day of strikes against Iran, with Trump playing down the prospect of talks and vowing to hit suspected nuclear sites, while Iran threatened a “powerful strike” in retaliation.3M surged 7.3% after lifting its full-year profit forecast, GM rose nearly 5% on a raised outlook, while Danaher sank 11% after cutting its core revenue growth guidance.China’s Moonshot AI is preparing to raise capital at up to $50 billion ahead of a Hong Kong IPO, after its 2.8 trillion-parameter Kimi K3 model drove daily revenue up sixfold.Key Takeaways010203040506