Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange during morning trading on July 01, 2026 in New York City.
Michael M. Santiago | Getty Images
Stocks largely rose on Wednesday, staging a sudden reversal of their earlier slide, as a rally in some parts of the technology sector offset pressure in semiconductor stocks.
The S&P 500 was up 0.2%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 263 points, or 0.5%. The Nasdaq Composite shed about 0.1%, however.
The gains come after the major averages closed out a strong start to 2026. In the first six months of the year, the Dow climbed 8.9%, marking its best first-half performance since 2021. The broad market S&P 500 rose 9.6%, and the Nasdaq climbed 12.8%. The small-cap Russell 2000 surged nearly 22% to clinch its best first-half performance since 1991.
That momentum carried over to the start of the second half of 2026.
On Wednesday, Meta led a comeback in Big Tech stocks, lifting the broader market. Shares of the Mark Zuckerberg-owned AI giant rose nearly 11% after the company said it would launch a cloud business and sell excess computing power — move that could boost its revenue. Hyperscalers Microsoft and Apple also popped roughly 3% and 2%, respectively.
The gains came even as investors dumped semiconductor names, taking profit after the swath of stocks surged more than 80% in the first half of 2026. Micron plunged 6%, although it was still up around 277% in the year to date. Sandisk shed 9%, losing some steam after gaining more than 850% in the first half of the year. Nvidia and Broadcom also fell roughly 2%.
Traders are also kept an eye on the Federal Reserve as Chairman Kevin Warsh delivered remarks at the European Central Bank conference in Portugal. While he didn't give hints about monetary policy for the upcoming meeting this month, he noted that "we've seen that prices are too high."
15 Min Ago
European stocks close lower
A bear statue stands outside the Frankfurt Stock Exchange on April 7, 2025 in Frankfurt, Germany.
Florian Wiegand | Getty Images
Shares listed in Europe closed broadly lower on Wednesday, as geopolitics and monetary policy remained in focus.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 provisionally ended the session 0.3% lower, with most sectors and major regional bourses in negative territory. London's FTSE 100 was down by 0.1% at the closing bell, while France's CAC 40 shed 0.7%.
"Stocks across Europe and the US took a step back as investors continued to fret about the prospect of the Fed pushing up interest rates," Dan Coatsworth, head of markets at AJ Bell, said in a Wednesday afternoon note.
"Markets are currently pricing in a 29.4% chance of a US interest rate hike at this month's Fed meeting, down from a 34.2% probability a week ago. Theoretically, that should be positive for equities, yet what's troubling investors is the prospect of a rate hike at the end of the year. Fed chair Kevin Warsh seems determined not to engage in a constant narrative about the direction of interest rates, but investors continue to hunt for any morsel of information."
— Chloe Taylor
43 Min Ago
Meta shares jump 10% on potential cloud business
FILE PHOTO: The logo of Meta is seen at Porte de Versailles exhibition center in Paris, France, June 11, 2025.
Gonzalo Fuentes | Reuters
Shares of Meta popped more than 10% on Wednesday after Bloomberg News reported that the company is building out a new cloud business that could help recoup some of the billions of dollars it's poured into AI infrastructure.
The company is debating whether it will offer access to AI models that are hosted on its infrastructure, or whether it will sell access to raw computing power, according to Bloomberg.
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— Ashley Capoot, Yun Li
2 Hours Ago
Russell 2000 hits all-time high
Small-cap stocks kicked off the new trading month and quarter on a high note.
The Russell 2000 hit a new all-time high on Wednesday. The small cap-focused index is now on track to record its sixth straight positive session.
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Russell 2000, 1-day
The index added more than 21% in the first half of 2026, its biggest gain in the first six months of a year since 1991.
— Alex Harring, Nick Wells
2 Hours Ago
Nike’s earnings leave the Street cautious as turnaround plan continues to take time
People visit the Nike store in New York, March 30, 2026.
Zamek | View Press | Corbis News | Getty Images
Shares of Nike are falling after it reported a sales decline of 12% in the Greater China market in its quarterly financial report released Tuesday, even while it beat earnings and revenue estimates. Analysts on Wall Street broadly are still skeptical of CEO Elliott Hill's turnaround plan.
UBS reiterated its neutral rating, and cut its price target slightly. In a Tuesday note, analyst Jay Sole wrote that there doesn't appear to be a reason to buy the stock right now. "Despite the pullback in Nike's stock price, we still don't see a good entry point," Sole said. "Nike's stock price is still not cheap at ~27x our FY27 EPS estimate, in our view, and this suggests a solid rebound remains priced in."
Bank of America also reiterated its neutral rating, and lowered its price target. Analyst Lorraine Hutchinson wrote that the weak China sales were countered with an inflection point in margins. Goldman Sachs analyst Brooke Roach, who also has a neutral rating on Nike, wrote that investors will need to have patience with Nike's turnaround plan.
Bernstein, meanwhile, reiterated its overweight rating on the stock, though also slightly lowered its price target. Analyst Aneesha Sherman said the long-term outlook for the company is strong. "Nike remains challenged near-term with modest revenue declines as Mgmt controls promotions and low-quality sales, but more optimism into calendar 2027 on innovation, cost mgmt, full-price selling, and margin recovery," she wrote in a Wednesday note.