{"id":63390,"date":"2026-06-18T14:07:12","date_gmt":"2026-06-18T18:07:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/tech-and-semis-surge-as-nasdaq-leads-afternoon-rally-micron-and-intel-shine\/63390\/"},"modified":"2026-06-18T14:07:12","modified_gmt":"2026-06-18T18:07:12","slug":"tech-and-semis-surge-as-nasdaq-leads-afternoon-rally-micron-and-intel-shine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/tech-and-semis-surge-as-nasdaq-leads-afternoon-rally-micron-and-intel-shine\/63390\/","title":{"rendered":"Tech and Semis Surge as Nasdaq Leads Afternoon Rally; Micron and Intel Shine"},"content":{"rendered":"

U.S. equity markets displayed a sharp divergence during Thursday afternoon trading, as a massive surge in technology and semiconductor stocks propelled the Nasdaq Composite to significant gains while the blue-chip Dow Jones<\/a> Industrial Average struggled to remain in positive territory. Investors appear to be rotating heavily into growth-oriented sectors, fueled by renewed optimism surrounding artificial intelligence and a stabilizing outlook for interest rates.<\/p>\n

Market Indexes and Sector Performance<\/h2>\n

As of mid-afternoon on Thursday, June 18th, 2026, the tech-heavy Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ<\/a>) is leading the charge with a robust gain of 2.38%. This strength is mirrored in the broader tech landscape, with the State Street Technology Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLK<\/a>) rising 3.01%. The S&P 500<\/a>, represented by the State Street SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY<\/a>), is up a solid 0.76%, benefiting from its high concentration of mega-cap tech names.<\/p>\n

In contrast, the Dow Jones Industrial Average, tracked by the State Street SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF Trust (DIA<\/a>), is flat to slightly down, showing a marginal decline of 0.02%. This underperformance highlights a rotation away from defensive and value-oriented sectors. Specifically, the Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLE<\/a>) fell 1.92% as oil prices<\/a> softened, and the Health Care Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLV<\/a>) dropped 0.82%.<\/p>\n

The standout performer of the day is the semiconductor industry. The VanEck Semiconductor ETF (SMH<\/a>) has skyrocketed 5.68%, driven by massive buying interest in key chipmakers. Small-cap stocks are also seeing a relief rally, with the iShares Russell 2000 ETF (IWM<\/a>) gaining 1.57%.<\/p>\n

Major Stock News and Corporate Developments<\/h2>\n

The semiconductor space is dominating the headlines today. Micron Technology, Inc. (MU<\/a>) is one of the most active stocks, surging 6.4% as investors anticipate its upcoming earnings report next week. Intel Corp (INTC<\/a>) is also seeing a significant boost, climbing 8.9% amid reports of new manufacturing milestones. Advanced Micro Devices (AMD<\/a>) followed suit with a 4.0% gain.<\/p>\n

In the broader tech sector, Nvidia (NVDA<\/a>) continues to be a primary driver of market sentiment as it benefits from the sustained AI tailwind. However, not all tech news was positive; Accenture PLC (ACN<\/a>) saw its shares tumble 19.0% following its Q3 2026 earnings release, which appears to have disappointed investors regarding its near-term consulting outlook.<\/p>\n

In the retail space, The Kroger Co. (KR<\/a>) reported its Q1 2026 results this morning. While the retail sector generally showed strength\u2014with the SPDR S&P Retail ETF (XRT<\/a>) up 2.26%\u2014individual performance remains mixed as consumers navigate persistent inflationary pressures.<\/p>\n

Upcoming Market Events<\/h2>\n

Looking ahead, the market is bracing for several high-profile earnings releases and economic data points. Tomorrow, Friday, June 19th, Darden Restaurants, Inc. (DRI<\/a>) is scheduled to report its Q4 2026 results before the opening bell, providing a fresh look at consumer spending in the casual dining sector.<\/p>\n

Next week will be critical for the technology sector's momentum. On Tuesday, June 23rd, FedEx Corporation (FDX<\/a>) will report after the close, serving as a bellwether for global logistics and economic activity. This will be followed by the highly anticipated fiscal third-quarter results from Micron Technology, Inc. (MU<\/a>) on Wednesday, June 24th. Finally, Nike, Inc. (NKE<\/a>) will round out the week with its earnings on Thursday, June 25th.<\/p>\n

Investors also remain focused on the Federal Reserve's next steps. While no policy decision is imminent today, the cooling of the iPath Series B S&P 500 VIX Short-Term Futures ETN (VXX<\/a>), which fell 3.23%, suggests that volatility is subsiding as the market bets on a "soft landing" for the U.S. economy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

U.S. equity markets displayed a sharp divergence during Thursday afternoon trading, as a massive surge in technology and semiconductor stocks […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":50312,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"rank_math_schema_Article":[],"rank_math_focus_keyword":[],"rank_math_description":[],"financial_data_references":[],"stock_symbols_mentioned":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[6824,94],"tags":[31,95,311,633,3710,3806,4223,4380,5027],"class_list":["post-63390","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-market-update","tag-intc","tag-nasdaq","tag-mu","tag-nvda","tag-federal-reserve","tag-spy","tag-inflation","tag-stock-market","tag-semiconductors"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63390","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=63390"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63390\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/50312"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=63390"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=63390"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=63390"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}