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Dow rises as semiconductors slump, UnitedHealth leads

Stocks moved with major US data showing stronger labor and factory activity, while semiconductor-heavy names dragged the Nasdaq.

Reported · Written up by our desk · Indices

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose about 160 points, or 0.3%, to trade near 52,800 on Thursday, while the S&P 500 fell 0.2% and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.9%. The blue-chip index climbed to a session high of 52,828.90 after an early dip to 52,586.81, keeping last week’s record near 53,333.18 within 1% of the level.

Semiconductors drove much of the day’s drag. Taiwan Semiconductor beat second-quarter expectations but raised capital spending guidance to between $60 billion and $64 billion from a prior $52 billion to $56 billion range, yet the stock slid about 2%, while Arm fell more than 7%, Micron dropped more than 5%, Advanced Micro Devices fell more than 4%, Broadcom declined more than 3%, and SK Hynix fell more than 9% in its US listing.

With the Dow holding relatively few semiconductor names, leadership came from other parts of the index. UnitedHealth gained more than 6% after topping expectations easily, and the report noted banks that cleared their earnings bars earlier in the week, with an overall beat rate above 87% across the first 40 S&P 500 reporters.

The broader tape also reflected a strong macro data sweep. Initial jobless claims fell to 208K versus a 217K consensus, the Philadelphia Fed manufacturing index surged to 41.4 versus 13 expected, and the New York Fed services gauge rose to 8.7, its first positive reading in nearly two years, alongside retail sales up 0.2% month over month as expected.

Latest closeS&P 500 7,572.40 ▲0.4%|Nasdaq Comp. 26,269.23 ▲0.6%|Dow Jones 52,658.64 ▲0.3%

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