NEW YORK – The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq closed down on June 22, dragged by declines in the megacap technology stocks including Alphabet, while investors assessed developments in US-Iran negotiations.
The Dow closed higher, boosted by the healthcare and industrial sectors. SpaceX tumbled 16.4 per cent, its biggest single-day drop, and weighed heavily on the Nasdaq Composite. It is still trading above its IPO price of US$135 (S$174) per share.
The Elon Musk-led company launched its first-ever debt offering on June 22 and said it had about US$100.8 billion in cash and cash equivalents as of June 19.
Optimism about artificial intelligence has supported Wall Street’s recent rally, but analysts noted that more investors have been questioning lofty spending on infrastructure expansion by hyperscalers. Alphabet fell 5 per cent while Meta, Amazon and Microsoft fell between 2.3 per cent and 4.7 per cent.
“This is a very sentiment-driven sector and the group tends to trade together on a day-to-day basis,” said Bill Northey, senior investment director at US Bank.
“But as we step back … some of the strongest fundamentals are within the AI data centre buildout space. That includes both the hyperscalers as well as many of the components that go into that continued buildout.”
The next test for the rally will be Micron Technology’s quarterly results on June 24. Shares of the memory chipmaker are up nearly 300 per cent in 2026. Seven of the 11 major S&P sectors closed higher, led by real estate and energy stocks. Communication Services was a laggard, falling 3.8 per cent.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 148.01 points, or 0.29 per cent, to 51,712.71, the S&P 500 lost 27.79 points, or 0.37 per cent, to 7,472.79 and the Nasdaq Composite lost 351.33 points, or 1.32 per cent, to 26,166.60.
Oil prices fell as Washington and Tehran agreed on a roadmap toward a final deal within 60 days.
US and Iranian officials made “great progress” at the first round of their talks in Switzerland that ended early on June 22, mediators said, although tensions persisted over Lebanon and the Strait of Hormuz.
“Energy prices are coming down, which is certainly a catalyst for both the consumer as well as businesses,” Northey said. “On the flip side of that, we came out with a very hawkish (Federal Reserve) under new Chair Kevin Warsh, and it led the market to believe that there will be a more prioritised focus on returning to price stability in the near term.”
This view on the Fed has lifted US Treasury yields and pressured stock prices lower, he said. A focus this week will be on June 25’s Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) data, the Fed’s preferred gauge of core inflation.
A stronger-than-expected reading could reinforce expectations of a hawkish Federal Reserve, after Warsh underscored the need to curb inflation at last week’s meeting.
Markets currently expect a 25-basis-point rate hike from the Fed in September, according to LSEG data.
Among other movers, Apogee Therapeutics jumped 46.7 per cent after AbbVie said it would acquire the biotech company for US$10.9 billion in cash.
AbbVie rose 6.2 per cent. Declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 1.32-to-1 ratio on the NYSE.
There were 345 new highs and 200 new lows on the NYSE. On the Nasdaq, 2,078 stocks rose and 2,773 fell as declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 1.33-to-1 ratio.
The S&P 500 posted 29 new 52-week highs and 33 new lows while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 144 new highs and 186 new lows.
Volume on US exchanges was 22.97 billion shares, compared with the 22.12 billion average for the full session over the last 20 trading days. REUTERS
