Update: US Equity Indexes Mixed as Steepest Decliner Technology Eats into Consumer Discretionary Gains
(Updates with index/price moves, macroeconomic data, and analyst comment from the first paragraph.)US stocks traded mixed, as technology and consumer discretionary pulled in different directions while crude oil prices extended declines to levels last seen before the Iran war.The S&P 500 climbed 0.2% to 7,370.1, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 0.1% to 51,79.5 after midday Friday. The Nasdaq Composite was little changed at 25,360.3. Technology and industrials led the four declining sectors intraday. Health care, consumer discretionary, and consumer staples were among the top gainers.IBM's (IBM) technology capable of producing chips smaller than one nanometer represents a "major moment" for the semiconductor industry amid increasing artificial intelligence workloads, Wedbush Securities said in a note on Friday. IBM has created what it calls the "world's first sub-1 nanometer chip technology," the company said Thursday. IBM shares jumped 4.7%, making it the Dow's leader.Microsoft-backed (MSFT) OpenAI is leaning toward delaying its initial public offering until next year, the New York Times reported Thursday, citing three people involved in the company's deliberations. The ChatGPT maker hired bankers and lawyers, eyeing an IPO as soon as Q3 or Q4, with CEO Sam Altman pushing for a $1 trillion valuation, according to the report. Shares of Microsoft advanced 4.3%, among the Dow's top gainers.In a category of stocks with a market capitalization of over $200 billion, 17 out of the 20 worst-performing stocks were technology firms. Western Digital (WDC), Sandisk (SNDK), and Seagate Technology (STX) were the steepest decliners, down by at least 7.9% each. In the declining technology shares, more than half were semiconductor companies.In geopolitical news, 115 vessels and 2,500 seafarers have been evacuated from the Strait of Hormuz since Tuesday, said Arsenio Dominguez, the secretary-general of the UN's International Maritime Organization, according to a report from Al Jazeera.The front-month global benchmark North Sea Brent slumped 4.1% to $72.20 per barrel, and the US West Texas Intermediate retreated 3.5% to $69.43 per barrel, extending their declines to the lowest since the beginning of the Iran war."Oil resumed its decline after tanker transits through the Strait of Hormuz accelerated, following a brief rebound on Thursday when a container ship was struck by an unknown projectile off the coast of Oman," Saxo Bank said in a note. "The mini tsunami of released barrels is weighing on the front end of the futures curve."The University of Michigan consumer sentiment index was revised up to 49.5 for June from 48.9 in the preliminary estimate, below expectations of 50.0 in a Bloomberg-compiled poll. The print was also above the final 44.8 in May.Respondents in the Michigan survey expected a 4.6% inflation rate over the next year and 3.3% annually over the next five years, down from 4.8% and 3.9%, respectively, in May.Most US Treasury yields fell, with the 10-year down 1.6 basis points to 4.38%. The two-year rate dropped 3.3 basis points to 4.09%.Gold futures jumped 1.4% to $4,104.1, and silver futures climbed 1.6% to $59.31.