Wall Street ended mixed overnight, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average surging to a record closing high as optimism over progress towards ending the Iran conflict boosted investor sentiment, while weakness in semiconductor stocks weighed on the technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite.
The Dow climbed 874.86 points, or 1.73%, to 51,561.93, while the S&P 500 gained 30.63 points, or 0.41%, to close at 7,584.31. The Nasdaq slipped 23.02 points, or 0.09%, to 26,830.96.
Investor sentiment improved after the US House of Representatives approved a measure aimed at blocking President Donald Trump from continuing military action against Iran. A US-mediated ceasefire agreement between Israel and Lebanon also raised hopes of a broader peace deal involving Iran, although the truce was rejected by Hezbollah.
Healthcare and financial stocks led gains on the S&P 500, helping offset losses in technology counters. Chip stocks came under pressure after Broadcom missed revenue expectations, sending its shares down 12.6% and triggering a wider sell-off across the semiconductor sector.
Among notable movers, UnitedHealth Group rose 5.2% after a rating upgrade from Bank of America, while Blackstone gained 7.5% despite capping withdrawals from its flagship private credit fund. Meanwhile, CrowdStrike fell 3.8% following higher quarterly operating expenses.
Economic data showed signs of a cooling labour market, with weekly jobless claims rising 6.1% and layoffs announced by US companies jumping 11% in May to 97,006. Nearly 40% of the announced layoffs were linked to artificial intelligence-related restructuring efforts.
Market breadth remained positive, with advancing stocks outnumbering decliners by more than two-to-one on the New York Stock Exchange.
