October 20, U.S. stocks closed mixed as a sharp rebound in chipmakers pushed the tech-heavy Nasdaq higher while blue-chips lagged. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.07% to 51,966.03, the S&P 500 added 0.41% to 7,690.73, and the Nasdaq Composite surged 1.11% to 26,430.89. Investors rotated back into high-growth technology after upbeat semiconductor sales projections and solid October retail data suggested resilient consumer demand despite higher rates.
Semiconductor names dominated the leaderboard. SanDisk Corp (SNDK) jumped 5.53%, Direxion Daily Semiconductors Bull 3x Shares (SOXL) rose 5.32%, Amazon.com (AMZN) gained 4.98% after blockbuster Prime Day figures, Palantir Technologies (PLTR) advanced 4.36% on a fresh Pentagon deal, Marvell Technology (MRVL) climbed 4.06%, and Tesla (TSLA) added 3.76% on stronger European deliveries. On the flip side, the bearish Direxion Daily Semiconductors Bear 3x Shares (SOXS) fell 5.28% and Meta Platforms (META) fell 0.55% amid antitrust scrutiny.
Broader chip optimism lifted related ADRs and tech-heavy ETFs. SK hynix (SKHY) rose 4.67%, ProShares UltraPro QQQ (TQQQ) climbed 3.56%, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSM) gained 1.84%, the Space Exploration ETF (SPCX) added 1.32%, while the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO) edged up 0.43%.