U.S. equities closed the week on a firm note Friday as fresh evidence of an accelerating AI capital-spending cycle overwhelmed lingering worries over Middle East tensions. The Nasdaq Composite jumped 1.3%, or 336.24 points, to finish at 26,206.89, while the S&P 500 added 0.8% to 7,543.64. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 139.02 points, or 0.3%, to a new record 52,478.41.
Micron Escalates U.S. Chip Buildout to $250 Billion
Memory-chip maker Micron Technology led the tape after unveiling a sweeping expansion of its domestic manufacturing plans. The company said Thursday evening it will invest more than $250 billion in the United States through 2035 — a $50 billion increase over the $200 billion commitment made in June — citing surging AI-driven demand for high-bandwidth memory and the Trump administration's push to onshore advanced semiconductor production.
The plan includes $3 billion earmarked specifically for strengthening the U.S. semiconductor supply chain. Within that, $500 million will fund GlobalWafers' 300-mm raw silicon wafer manufacturing facility in Sherman, Texas, alongside a 10-year supply agreement that locks in wafer capacity through the next decade. Micron flagged New York, Idaho, and Virginia as the primary geographic beneficiaries of the multi-year buildout.
The market response was emphatic. Micron shares jumped roughly 8% in early trading, extending a year-to-date advance that has now topped 200%.
SK Hynix Prices Largest-Ever Foreign U.S. Listing
Adding to the semiconductor euphoria, South Korea's SK Hynix priced its U.S. secondary listing at $149 per American depositary share, selling 177.9 million ADSs to raise approximately $26.5 billion. The offering ranks as the largest-ever U.S. listing by a foreign company, eclipsing Alibaba's $25 billion 2014 debut, and stands as the second-largest global listing behind only SpaceX's $85.7 billion Nasdaq debut in June.
The shares will trade under the temporary ticker SKHYV before converting to SKHY on July 13. SK Hynix — the world's second-largest memory chipmaker and the dominant supplier of HBM to AI accelerators with roughly 60% market share — said proceeds will fund new fabs in South Korea and purchases of ASML's EUV lithography scanners to expand HBM output.
Middle East Noise Fails to Derail the Bid
Traders largely shrugged off a fresh flare-up in U.S.-Iran tensions that had earlier this week rattled crude and pressured chip names. The persistence of AI-related capex announcements — Micron on Thursday, SK Hynix on Friday — appears to be reasserting itself as the dominant narrative heading into second-quarter earnings season.
CPI Looms as Next Test
Attention now shifts to next week's June Consumer Price Index report, scheduled for release Tuesday, July 14, at 8:30 a.m. ET. The most recent print, for May, showed headline CPI accelerating to 4.2% year-over-year from 3.8% in April, with core CPI at 2.9%. A hotter-than-expected June reading would complicate the Federal Reserve's decision to hold the federal funds rate steady through the first half of 2026, and could pressure the risk-on positioning that carried markets to fresh highs this week.
For now, however, the bid for AI-adjacent semiconductor equities remains unbroken. With Micron's fresh capex commitment, SK Hynix's blockbuster listing, and the Dow's record close, the industry's Friday close underscored that the U.S. remains the geographic center of gravity for the AI infrastructure trade.
Sources: Yahoo Finance, Al Jazeera, Reuters, Benzinga, Bloomberg