Stocks were rising Monday -- even as chip stocks came under pressure -- after President Donald Trump said he would restart talks with Iran, bolstering investors' hopes of a cease-fire in the Middle East.
Micron dropped 5.2% following a sharp selloff in rival South Korean memory-chip makers SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics on Monday. SK Hynix's American depositary receipts slid 5.4%.
Sandisk declined 2.1% and Western Digital dropped 6.3%.
Corning gained 0.7% to $139.19. Truist upgraded the optical networking stock to Buy from Hold with an updated price target of $175, down from $205. The firm believes Corning stock could offer investors a more constructive entry point after it sank 46% in July.
Nvidia declined 0.4%. The earnings season hasn't provided much of a catalyst for Nvidia just yet.
Bristol Myers Squibb rose 0.6% while AstraZeneca dropped 8%. The U.S. drugmaker and its U.K. rival held talks about a potential merger, according to the Financial Times. AstraZeneca declined to comment to Barron's and Bristol Myers Squibb didn't respond to a request for comment.
SpaceX gained 0.7%. Elon Musk's AI and rocket company reports second-quarter earnings on Tuesday. Coming into Monday, SpaceX stock has fallen about 20% from its $135 initial offering price. A strong report could turn the tide.
Ferguson Enterprises advanced 9.1% after S&P Dow Jones Indices said it would add the plumbing and HVAC company to the S&P 500 before the market opens on Aug. 5, replacing Electronic Arts.
Alibaba added 5.7% after the Chinese online retailer released a new AI model, Qwen 3.8-Max.
Circle Internet declined 5.1% to $59.42. Morgan Stanley downgraded Circle to Underweight from Equal Weight with a $38 price target, down sharply from $106. Bitcoin also traded 1.% lower over the past 24 hours, according to CoinDesk.
GameStop fell 11%. The company said it would swap $1.4 billion worth debt for stock. Retiring debt by issuing stock dilutes existing shareholders and tends to trigger hedging and short-selling by institutional investors.
Palantir Technologies rose 3%. The company reports second-quarter earnings after the closing bell. Fellow software stock ServiceNow gained 6.7%, placing it near the top of the S&P 500. Palo Alto Networks CrowdStrike added 1.3% and 2.3%, respectively.