Chip and software stocks were mixed on Monday amid U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran and Tehran’s retaliation.
The tech-focused Nasdaq Composite (COMP:IND) fell around 0.1%. At the same time, the benchmark S&P 500 (SP500) dipped about 0.3%. The blue-chip Dow (DJI) had declined by 0.4%.
Meanwhile, the iShares Expanded Tech-Software Sector ETF climbed about 1.3%. The ETF mainly holds large-cap U.S. software companies, including Microsoft (MSFT), Palantir Technologies (PLTR), Oracle (ORCL), and Salesforce (CRM), among others. Shares of Palantir surged about 6%, while Microsoft and Oracle each jumped nearly 2%. Salesforce dipped around 1%.
Some other companies in the ETF: CrowdStrike (CRWD) and Intuit (INTU), each climbed about 3%, while ServiceNow (NOW) rose around 2%. Palo Alto Networks (PANW) grew nearly 1%. Adobe (ADBE) fell around 1%, while AppLovin (APP) was also in the red.
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. Britain, France, and Germany have said that they were prepared to work with the U.S.
AI chipmaker Nvidia’s (NVDA) stock jumped about 2% on Monday. Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) declined around 3%. Broadcom (AVGO) and Qualcomm (QCOM) each fell nearly 2%.
Several other AI and networking-related stocks were also mixed. Coherent (COHR) and Lumentum (LITE), which announced partnerships and investments from Nvidia, soared about 12% and 6%, respectively, on Monday. Ciena (CIEN) rose around 1%. Meanwhile, Arista Networks (ANET) fell roughly 4%, while Cisco (CSCO) and Celestica (CLS) each dipped about 2%.
Shares of GlobalFoundries (GFS) rose about 1%, while Arm (ARM) fell nearly 3%. Marvell Technology (MRVL), Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSM), Intel (INTC), Micron Technology (MU), Analog Devices (ADI), and Texas Instruments (TXN) each dipped around 1%. Lattice Semiconductor (LSCC) was also in the red.
Chip equipment makers: ASML (ASML) slipped about 2%, while Lam Research (LRCX) and Applied Materials (AMAT) each fell around 1%. Shares of KLA (KLAC) were also in the red.
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