AI chip stocks rebound, Wall Street surges as oil prices dip

Wall Street rallied Thursday as a rebound in AI chipmakers and a drop in oil prices gave investors a reason to buy back into stocks after a bruising stretch. The Nasdaq Composite rose 1.30% to 26,206.89, the S&P 500 climbed 0.81% to 7,543.64 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 139.02 points, or 0.27%, to 52,487.41.

Semiconductors led the move. The VanEck Semiconductor ETF gained 2.5%, the PHLX chip index jumped 3.06% for a second straight session, and Micron Technology rose 4.5% after outlining plans to invest more than $250 billion in the United States through 2035 to meet demand for memory chips tied to artificial intelligence. Sandisk climbed 7.6%, extending a recovery in a sector that had been hit hard earlier in the week when AI chipmakers sold off across global markets.

The rebound mattered beyond the chip trade. Gains in the Nasdaq and S&P 500 flow through retirement accounts because so many 401(k) plans and index funds are tied to those benchmarks, and Thursday’s move helped claw back some of the damage from Tuesday’s tech-driven drop. Seven of the 11 S&P 500 sector indexes advanced, led by information technology, a sign that money moved back toward growth stocks rather than defensive names.

Oil’s decline reinforced the rally. Crude futures fell as investors monitored renewed U.S.-Iran tensions and fresh strikes in the Middle East, including the Strait of Hormuz, after President Donald Trump said Iran had called to make a deal. Lower oil prices can ease pressure on gasoline costs and, over time, soften inflation expectations, which matters for consumers still wary of higher prices and for the Federal Reserve as it weighs future rate moves.

Still, the market’s tone was one of relief more than resolution. Charles Schwab said stocks were climbing even as overnight attacks kept traders uneasy, and analysts warned the conflict remained highly uncertain. Reuters said the S&P 500 was up about 10% in 2026 and remained less than 1% from its June 2 record closing high, showing how much of this year’s advance has rested on technology and AI-linked shares. That makes Thursday’s bounce look like both a short-term reprieve and another test of whether investors still believe growth can outrun geopolitical risk and inflation pressure.