Chip and AI-related stocks saw some relief on Wednesday after oil prices eased for the first time since the U.S.-Iran war escalations began.
The tech-focused Nasdaq Composite (COMP:IND) rose around 1.3%. At the same time, the benchmark S&P 500 (SP500) climbed about 0.8%. The blue-chip Dow (DJI) grew nearly 0.6%.
The U.S. Senate is set to vote Wednesday on President Donald Trump’s decision to launch military action against Iran, marking a major congressional test as the conflict rapidly expands across the Middle East without a clearly defined U.S. exit strategy. Over the weekend, the U.S. and Israel carried out coordinated attacks on Iran that killed senior military and government leadership, including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, triggering an Iranian response.
Chip stocks had tumbled on Tuesday after Asian markets saw red amid potential impact on energy supplies and surging oil prices due to the ongoing clashes. However, on Wednesday the surge in oil prices eased, and U.S. markets opened more positively after a better-than-expected labor report and a lower U.S. Composite PMI read.
AI chipmaker Nvidia’s (NVDA) stock rose about 2% on Wednesday. Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) jumped nearly 4%. Broadcom (AVGO) rose roughly 2%, while Qualcomm (QCOM) was largely flat but in the green.
Several other AI and networking-related stocks were also among the gainers. Arista Networks (ANET) surged about 7%, while Ciena (CIEN) and Celestica (CLS) each jumped roughly 3%. Cisco (CSCO) rose around 1%. However, Coherent (COHR) and Lumentum (LITE) seem to buck the trend, declining about 5% and 6%, respectively.
Shares of Intel (INTC) soared about 6% on Wednesday after CFO David Zinsner’s comments at the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media & Telecom Conference. Zinsner said that the server CPU market is expected to grow meaningfully in 2026 and that demand for servers is strong across the board. However, Zinsner noted that the supply is a greater challenge into next year.
Micron Technology (MU) soared around 7%, while Arm (ARM) and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSM) each climbed about 2%. Marvell Technology (MRVL), Analog Devices (ADI), and Texas Instruments (TXN) each rose nearly 1%. However, Lattice Semiconductor (LSCC) fell about 2%, and GlobalFoundries (GFS) dipped roughly 1%.
Chip equipment makers: Lam Research (LRCX) soared about 4%, while ASML (ASML), Applied Materials (AMAT), and KLA (KLAC) each rose about 3%.
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