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Update: US Equity Indexes Fall as Technology Slides, Warsh's Inflation Focus Lifts Treasury Yields

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(Updates with index/price moves, macroeconomic data and geopolitical news from the first paragraph.)

US equity indexes fell as technology chipped away at gains in communication services, government bond yields rose after Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh reiterated his focus on inflation, and crude oil declined.

The Nasdaq Composite fell 0.7% to 26,040.03 on Wednesday. The S&P 500 shed 0.2% to 7,483.23, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average was little changed at 52,305.24.

Meta Platforms (META) is building a cloud infrastructure business to sell access to AI computing power and models, setting up a new area of competition with Amazon (AMZN) Web Services, Microsoft (MSFT) Azure, and Alphabet's (GOOG, GOOGL) Google Cloud, Bloomberg reported Wednesday, citing people familiar with the matter. Shares of Meta surged 8.8%, one of the S&P 500's and the Nasdaq's top gainers.

Of the bottom 10 stocks with a market capitalization of more than $200 billion each, nine were technology firms, according to data compiled by Finviz. Within these, the majority were either semiconductors or semiconductor equipment and materials. The steepest decline in the group was KLA (KLAC), down nearly 12%.

Fed Chair Warsh said price risks have fallen in recent weeks, while reiterating his determination to ease inflation to the US central bank's 2% target, Bloomberg reported. "Expectations of inflation over the first four weeks of this period have come down, [and] inflation risks have come down."

Most US Treasury yields rose, with the 10-year surging 5.9 basis points to 4.48%. The two-year rate jumped 4.2 basis points to 4.18%.

Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi said meetings with Qatari and Pakistani officials in Doha, Qatar, ended without direct talks between delegations from Washington and Tehran, according to Al Jazeera, a Middle East news agency. Gharibabadi said a communication channel will be set up for discussing breaches of the memorandum of understanding with the US, Al Jazeera cited Iran's official news agency, IRNA.

Meanwhile, commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz surged over the past few weeks, with American military support helping boost oil flows to more than 10 million barrels a day, a US official told Bloomberg.

The front-month global benchmark North Sea Brent declined 2.4% to $71.19 per barrel, and the US West Texas Intermediate retreated 2% to $68.10 per barrel.

In economic news, outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas said firms planned to cut 45,849 jobs in June, down from 97,006 in May and 47,999 a year ago.

ADP's monthly measure of private payrolls showed a 98,000 increase in June, missing the 120,000 jump indicated in a Bloomberg-compiled survey.

The Institute for Supply Management's US manufacturing index fell to 53.3 in June from 54.0 in May, compared with forecasts for 53.9 in a Bloomberg-compiled poll, indicating a slower pace of expansion.

The S&P Global US manufacturing index for June was revised down to 53.9 from the flash 55.7, versus expectations of no revision in a Bloomberg-compiled survey.

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(Updates with index/price moves, macroeconomic data, and company/geopolitical news from the first paragraph.)US equity indexes rose, with the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite clocking the biggest quarterly advances since Q2 2020 amid semiconductor-led gains in technology and declining crude oil prices.The Nasdaq Composite jumped 1.5% to 26,213.72, and the S&P 500 rose 0.8% to 7,499.36 on Tuesday, June 30. The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 0.3% to 52,319.20, capping the strongest first half in five years.Technology was the standout gainer at the close, followed by industrials. Real estate, consumer staples, and utilities led the decliners. Technology is also the top sector over the past three months, according to data compiled by Finviz.Of the top 20 stocks with a market capitalization of more than $200 billion, 17 were from the tech sector, according to data compiled by Finviz. Within those tech names, the majority were either semiconductors or semiconductor equipment and materials. The top gainer was SanDisk (SNDK), trading up 11%.In geopolitical news, US envoy Steve Witkoff and President Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner are in Doha for meetings with Qatari mediators, according to CNN. Technical talks are ongoing, but there are currently no high-level meetings between the US and Iran, CNN reported, citing Qatar's Foreign Ministry spokesperson.Iran's Parliament Speaker Ghalibaf said the country will not begin negotiations for a final agreement before the implementation of clauses 1, 4, 5, 10, and 11 of the memorandum of understanding signed with the US earlier this month, Al Jazeera reported. These clauses involve cessation of hostilities in Lebanon, removal of the US naval blockade, safe passage of commercial vessels, waivers for the export of Iranian crude oil, and the release of frozen Iranian funds.The front-month global benchmark North Sea Brent slipped 0.3% to $72.92 per barrel, and the US West Texas Intermediate fell 1% to $70.07 per barrel. Both crude types traded above $110 a barrel at the height of the US-Iran war.Most US Treasury yields rose, with the 10-year jumping 7.3 basis points to 4.45%. The two-year rate climbed 4.9 basis points to 4.16%.Gold futures edged 0.2%% lower to $4,031.7, while silver futures dropped 2.3% to $59.52.In economic news, US job openings rose to 7.594 million in May, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, above the 7.296 million openings expected in a Bloomberg-compiled survey and up from the 7.585 million openings reported in April.The Conference Board's measure of consumer confidence rose to 91.2 in June from a downwardly revised 90.6 in May, below the 94.4 expected in a Bloomberg-compiled poll.The Institute for Supply Management's Chicago PMI fell to 56.7 in June from 62.7 in May, compared with the expected 55.1 reading in a Bloomberg-compiled survey.In company news, Air Products and Chemicals (APD) said it is finalizing an agreement for renewable ammonia from a green hydrogen project in Saudi Arabia. Shares of Air Products jumped 8%, among the top gainers on the S&P 500.Pacira Biosciences (PCRX) has agreed to sell its Iovera cold-therapy pain relief system to Zimmer Biomet (ZBH) for up to $140 million. Zimmer shares dropped 5.6%, among the worst performers on the S&P 500.

Dow JonesNasdaq CompositeS&P 500$APD$PCRX$SNDK
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Dow Jones^EEM^EXI^FAS^FAZ^GLD^IBB^IGM^IGV^IPK^IVV^IWMNasdaq Composite^IYE^IYH^IYJ^IYK^IYW^PMR^QQQ^RTH^SOXXS&P 500^SPY^UNG^USO^VDC^VHT^VIS^XLE^XLF^XLI^XLK^XLP^XLV^XRT^XSD$BETH$BITO$EETH