S&P 500, Nasdaq Hit Fresh Records as Chip Rally Offsets Middle East Tensions

Major US stock indexes closed at fresh records again on May 11, with a rally in semiconductor shares outweighing renewed tensions in the Middle East after President Donald Trump said he had rejected Iran's proposal.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 95.31 points, or 0.19%, to 49,704.47. The S&P 500 gained 13.91 points, or 0.19%, to 7,412.84, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite added 27.05 points, or 0.10%, to 26,274.13.

The S&P 500 finished above 7,400 for the first time, and the Nasdaq set another record high.

Semiconductor stocks led the advance. Qualcomm jumped 8.42%, while memory-chip makers Micron Technology, Western Digital and Seagate rose 6.5%, 7.46% and 6.56%, respectively, extending strong gains from last week. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index climbed 2.6%.

Among the Magnificent Seven, Nvidia rose 1.97% and Tesla gained 3.89%. The other five stocks — Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta and Microsoft — fell.

The gains in chip shares did not spread broadly across the market as military tensions in the Middle East intensified.

Trump earlier described the ceasefire situation with Iran as "incredibly weak" and "at its weakest state." He said it was heavily reliant on life support and that doctors were giving it about a 1% chance. In an earlier interview with Fox News, he also said he was considering restarting the suspended "Liberation Project."

Oil prices also moved higher. Brent crude futures settled up 2.9% at $104.21 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate futures rose 2.8% to close at $98.07 a barrel.

According to CME Group's FedWatch tool, markets are pricing in a 97.7% chance that the Federal Reserve will keep its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 3.5% to 3.75% at its June Federal Open Market Committee meeting.

Han Gyeong-u, Hankyung.com reporter case@hankyung.com