Rotation from semiconductors to traditional industries… major indexes finish mixed [New York stock market briefing]

Major indexes on Wall Street closed mixed. As funds rotated out of the semiconductor sector into traditional industries such as autos and financials, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose while the Nasdaq fell. Alphabet, Google’s parent, which overtook Apple the previous day to become the No. 2 company by market capitalization, extended its gains and neared a $4 trillion market cap.

On the 8th (local time) at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), the Dow rose 270.03 points (0.55%) from the previous session to 49,266.11, the Standard & Poor’s (S&P) 500 added 0.53 points (0.01%) to 6,921.46, and the Nasdaq Composite slipped 104.26 points (0.44%) to 23,480.02.

After a sharp run-up in artificial intelligence (AI) and semiconductor themes, profit-taking emerged, while money rotated into blue chips and cyclical shares.

The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index fell 1.83%. Nvidia dropped 2.17%. Broadcom, ASML, Micron Technology, AMD, Applied Materials, Intel and KLA also posted declines of around 3%.

Funds that exited semiconductor stocks shifted into cyclical names. The blue-chip-heavy Dow advanced broadly, except for some tech and financial stocks.

Buying flowed into retailers, manufacturers and apparel names alike, including Home Depot, Procter & Gamble, Coca-Cola, Caterpillar, Merck, McDonald’s and Nike.

Among tech stocks, Alphabet rose more than 1%. By the close, its market capitalization was $3.93 trillion, just shy of $4 trillion.

By sector, technology fell 1.54% and healthcare slid 0.91%, while all other sectors rose.

Major defense contractors rebounded sharply after plunging in the prior session, after U.S. President Donald Trump said defense spending this year should be increased to as much as $1.5 trillion. Lockheed Martin rose 4.34%, RTX gained 0.78% and General Dynamics advanced 1.68%.

Private equity firms that had tumbled after Trump declared he would ban large institutional investors from buying single-family homes posted modest rebounds. Blackstone rose 1.11%, KKR gained 2.15% and Apollo Global Management added 1.32%.

According to CME’s FedWatch Tool, the federal funds rate futures market put the probability of rates being held steady in January at 86.2%, little changed from the previous day.

The Cboe Volatility Index (VIX) rose 0.07 point (0.46%) from the prior session to 15.45.

Han Kyung-woo, Hankyung.com reporter case@hankyung.com