Wall Street Indexes Trim Weekly Rally as Semiconductor and Memory Stocks Recede

Barry Adams
01 Jul, 2026
New York City

U.S. stocks traded higher, and AI- and semiconductor-related stocks led the market's advance. 

The S&P 500 Index increased 0.3%, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite edged up 0.4%, and private payrolls rose less than expected in June. 

Benchmark indexes advanced on the final trading day of the second quarter, as investors continued to add risk exposure to semiconductor and memory-related chips. 

At the end of the first half, the S&P 500 Index jumped 9.6%, the Nasdaq Composite advanced 12.8%, and the small-cap-focused Russell 2000 soared 22%, registering its best first-half performance since 1991. 

The surge in AI computing made already tight memory supply conditions tighter, driving memory prices more than three-fold over the last year. 

In six months, SanDisk soared 850%, Micron Technology advanced 310%, and Western Digital gained 280%, a scale of return that generally takes several years. 

Investors bid up these stocks as hyperscalers order large quantities of high-speed memory and storage to train and run AI systems as the largest technology companies race to expand their data centers. 

Previous AI darlings have come under heavy pressure in June, dragging down Microsoft by 24% and Meta by 14% over the six months, respectively. 

The surge in demand for advanced semiconductors also powered indexes in Asia and Europe. 

Benchmark indexes in Germany gained 2%, in France added 5%, and in the UK increased 7%. 

Market averages in Japan soared 40% and in South Korea soared 95% but declined 5% in India and 6% in Hong Kong.

Gold hit a new seven-month low and traded at $3,995 an ounce, plunging 28% from its peak of $5,594.28 an ounce reached on January 29. 

On the economic front, U.S. private businesses added fewer-than-expected jobs in June, and the pace of hiring declined from May, according to ADP.

Private enterprises added 96,000 net new jobs in June, below 122,000 in May and 105,000 in April.

Education and healthcare added the most jobs, followed by trade, transportation, utilities, and financial services. Meanwhile, annual wage gains held steady at 4.4% for those staying in their jobs, while increasing by 6.0% for those switching.

 

U.S. Movers 

Shutterstock plunged 33% to $9.38, and Getty Images Holdings decreased 5% to $0.81 after the two companies called off a $3.7 billion merger plan following additional demands from the UK regulators.

Getty said in a regulatory filing with the SEC that it rejected the UK Competition and Market Authority's merger condition, which would require Shutterstock to sell its editorial business. 

Both companies are facing a new wave of competition from generative AI products, which can create images based on basic requests from users.