[New York Stock Market] Mixed Close Amid Tech Stock Declines and Stalled Ceasefire Talks

International Oil Prices End Higher
Seagate: "New Plant Will Take Time"
Micron Falls on Capacity Shortage Concerns
Trump Says on Social Media: "Iran Strike Postponed"

On the 18th (local time), the three major U.S. stock indices closed mixed. Only the Dow Jones Industrial Average ended with a slight increase. The sharp decline in technology stocks such as Micron and U.S. President Donald Trump’s statement that he "cannot accept" Iran’s newly proposed ceasefire plan had a significant impact.

On the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) that day, the Dow Jones Industrial Average finished at 49,686.12, up 159.95 points (0.32%) from the previous trading day. The S&P 500 Index, which is focused on large-cap stocks, fell by 5.45 points (0.07%) to end at 7,403.05, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Index dropped 134.411 points (0.51%) to close at 26,090.734.

On this day, shares of memory chip companies faced selling pressure after the CEO of Seagate stated at a JP Morgan conference that building a new factory "will take a long time." CNBC reported that this comment further fueled concerns that the memory chip industry lacks the capacity to meet surging demand.

As a result, Seagate fell by about 7%, and its competitor Micron Technology dropped approximately 6%. Other declines included Western Digital at 4.8%, SanDisk at 5.3%, Nvidia at 1.37%, and Broadcom at 1.05%.

Last week, the yield on 30-year U.S. Treasury bonds surpassed 5% for the first time since the global financial crisis, causing the market to hesitate. With recently released inflation data exceeding expectations, there is a growing view that a rate cut will be difficult to achieve.

Tensions in the Iran conflict also escalated again. President Trump stated on Truth Social that "Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, Emir of Qatar; Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia; and President Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have all requested that I delay a scheduled military attack on the Islamic Republic of Iran."

Previously, in an interview with Axios, President Trump had also expressed a hardline stance, saying that the new ceasefire proposal from Iran was insufficient for reaching an agreement and was "unacceptable."

Louis Navellier, a veteran strategist on Wall Street, said, "Volatility will certainly continue until the Iran situation is resolved," adding, "If the transport of goods through the Strait of Hormuz does not resume even after a month, energy prices will almost certainly rise, leading to higher inflation and interest rate increases."

The U.S. Treasury Department announced that it would temporarily allow the sale of Russian crude oil, for which previous exemptions had expired. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent explained on X (formerly Twitter) that this measure "will help stabilize the physical crude oil market."

Despite this, international oil prices closed higher. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, June delivery West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil rose 3.07% from the previous session to $108.66 per barrel. On the ICE Futures Exchange, July delivery Brent crude ended at $112.10 per barrel, up 2.60% from the previous session.

Francisco Blanch of Bank of America (BofA) presented the best-case scenario for oil prices as an average Brent price of $90 per barrel for the remainder of the year. He added that prices could rise further if the stalemate with Iran continues or worsens.

Mark Hackett of Nationwide told Bloomberg, "The safety signals for the stock market are likely to depend on the stability of oil and bond markets, broader investment participation beyond a handful of large-cap stocks, and evidence that wage growth continues to outpace inflation."

Scott Rubner of Citadel Securities said there is an increasing risk that the strong capital inflows that have pushed the U.S. stock market to record highs in recent weeks could reverse. Rubner analyzed, "Given the short-term situation, a more cautious tactical approach is now necessary. The capital inflows that drove the rally now appear to have reached a fairly mature stage. Rising long-term interest rates have once again started to put pressure on the stock market."

Meanwhile, according to Investing.com, U.S. Treasury yields are slightly weaker. The 10-year U.S. Treasury yield is recording 4.592%, down 0.15% from the previous session. The 30-year U.S. Treasury yield stands at 5.127%, down 0.02%.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.