Sector rotation amid absorption of semiconductor stocks... Dow ↑ Nasdaq ↓ [New York Stock Market Briefing]

The three major stock indices closed mixed for the third consecutive day.

On the 22nd (local time) at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) rose 179.37 points (0.4%) to close at 44,502.44. The S&P 500 Index increased by 4.02 points (0.06%) to 6,309.62, while the NASDAQ Composite Index fell by 81.49 points (0.39%) to 20,892.69.

Seo Sang-young, a researcher at Mirae Asset Securities, said, "The US stocks started lower due to significant weakness in the semiconductor sector, attributed to the difficulties faced by the 'Stargate' project. However, stocks outside of that sector showed strength," and "In addition, comments from Treasury Secretary Besent raising expectations of US-China trade negotiations helped reduce the loss."

He further explained, "Especially based on the S&P 500, there were about four rising stocks for every decliner, showing solid investor sentiment," and pointed out, "The differentiated market with the Dow rising while the NASDAQ fell is a result of sector rotation."

Blue-chip stocks gained momentum amid sustained pressure at the highs in the market. However, following the news that OpenAI's large-scale 'Stargate' project is facing hurdles, investor sentiment toward semiconductor and artificial intelligence (AI) related stocks cooled.

'‘Stargate’ is a joint venture involving OpenAI, Oracle Corporation, and SoftBank Group. They have announced a plan to invest $500 billion (about ₩690 trillion) over the next four years to build artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure in the US requiring 10GW of power.

The Wall Street Journal reported that the project is facing setbacks. According to WSJ, although 'Stargate' was established to push this project forward, it has not signed a single AI data center construction contract and has sharply reduced its short-term business plans, revising its goals to build a small data center in the US by the end of the year.

Right after the report was released, OpenAI announced that, together with software and cloud computing firm Oracle Corporation, it would expand the 'Stargate' data center project by an additional 4.5 gigawatts (GW).

Due to this, the semiconductor index fell 1.75% to 5,638.71. NVIDIA Corporation and TSMC dropped by 2.54% and 1.74%, respectively.

Elsewhere, General Motors Company (GM) declined 8.1%. This was attributed to the company's earnings report, which disclosed a $1 billion hit to its quarterly results stemming from the tariff policies of the Trump administration. Ford Motor Company also slipped about 1%.

Tesla, ahead of its quarterly earnings release, gained 1.1%. Lockheed Martin Corporation, however, saw its share price plunge by roughly 11% after quarterly profit plummeted about 80%.

Reporter Min-kyung Shin at Hankyung.com radio@hankyung.com