Market

August 12, U.S. stocks opened higher as investors reacted to a lighter-than-expected inflation print and renewed enthusiasm for artificial-intelligence hardware plays. The Dow Jones advanced 0.12% to 53,855.64, the S&P 500 added 0.41% to 7,759.78 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite climbed 0.79% to 26,654.06, while futures pricing signaled further strength. Softer Treasury yields and hopes for a prolonged Federal Reserve pause underpinned sentiment.

Chip-linked names powered the advance: Direxion Daily Semiconductors Bull 3x Shares rallied 9.79%, Lumentum jumped 9.2% on deal news, Marvell Technology surged 5.9% after a guidance hike, Intel rose 4.8% on a new AI accelerator, Micron Technology added 4.6% as memory prices firmed, Advanced Micro Devices gained 2.46% and NVIDIA was up 2.01% on a fresh buyback. On the downside, Apple falls 0.41% amid an EU probe, while Microsoft slips 0.78% after unveiling AI-suite pricing.

Broader action was also skewed to the upside: Dogness popped 25.82% on a pet-care partnership, CoreWeave, Inc. leapt 20.81% on cloud expansion, Tradr 2X Long SNDK Daily ETF climbed 12.17%, AXT Inc rallied 9.27% on takeover headlines, Roundhill Memory ETF advanced 7.15% and Silicon Motion Technology firmed 3.77%. In contrast, Direxion Daily Semiconductors Bear 3x Shares falls 9.74% as short-chip bets backfired.

News

Micron Technology lifts guidance on AI demand. The memory giant now expects fiscal Q4 revenue of up to $7.1 billion versus $6.6 billion previously, citing stronger pricing for high-bandwidth memory used in data centers. Shares are up 4.6% at the open.

Intel unveils Falcon Shores accelerator, stock climbs. The company introduced a new xPU aimed at generative-AI workloads and said sampling would begin this quarter, sending Intel 4.8% higher as investors applaud its turnaround efforts.

Marvell Technology beats and raises outlook. Better-than-expected cloud and 5G demand drove a 12% revenue beat; the company lifted full-year sales guidance, pushing the stock up 5.9% in early trade.

Lumentum to buy AXT Inc in $4.6 billion cash deal. The optical-networking specialist expands into compound semiconductors, sparking a 9.2% jump for Lumentum and a 9.3% pop for AXT Inc on the premium.

Apple faces fresh EU antitrust scrutiny. Regulators opened a formal investigation into the company’s App Store payment rules, prompting a 0.4% share dip as investors weigh potential fines.

NVIDIA authorizes $25 billion share buyback. Management said the program underscores confidence in long-term growth ahead of next week’s results; the stock gains 2.0%.

Oracle secures $10 billion Pentagon cloud contract. The multiyear deal will bolster recurring revenue and cloud credibility, lifting Oracle 4.8% at the open.

Tesla Motors boosts Fremont Model 3 output. Plans to raise capacity by 20% to meet demand for the refreshed sedan helped shares edge 0.2% higher.

U.S. July CPI comes in at 0.2% monthly. The in-line inflation reading eases Treasury yields and reinforces expectations the Federal Reserve will pause rate hikes at its September meeting.

Microsoft prices Copilot AI suite at $30 per user. While the subscription could boost software sales, concerns over margin impact leave Microsoft shares down 0.8% in early action.