The broader market was little changed on Thursday, with losses staved off by tech gains, as investors were encouraged the exemptions for chipmakers manufacturing in the United States from President Donald Trump's new semiconductor tariffs, but concerns over the health of the economy remained.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite
Trump announced late Wednesday that he will impose a 100% tariff on imported microchips from all companies except for those "building in the United States." The new duty comes as Apple
The iPhone maker said the investment will also encourage companies to buy more American-made hardware under Apple's led American Manufacturing Program announced Wednesday. The program includes Amkor
"We're going to be putting a very large tariff on chips and semiconductors," Trump said at a press event held at the Oval Office on Wednesday. "But the good news for companies like Apple is if you're building in the United States or have committed to build, without question, committed to build in the United States, there will be no charge."
Other large chipmakers such as Taiwan Semiconductor
Separately, Intel
Trump's new tariff rates for dozens of countries also went into effect on Thursday, with new duties ranging from 10% to 41% -- an update that seemed to pass unnoticed on Wall Street.
Elsewhere, Eli Lilly
"Injectables have set a high bar, but this study reinforces the potential for an oral GLP-1 to be transformative in obesity care, particularly for patients who are hesitant to start of maintain injectable therapies," said Dr. Jaime Almandoz, medical director of the Weight Wellness Program at UT Southwestern Medical Center, quoted by CNBC.
Looking ahead, Piper Sandler chief market technician Craig Johnson wrote in a Thursday note that the firm expects the second half of the year to bring even more strength to Wall Street, maintaining his year-end S&P 500 target at 6,600.
"While historically, the summer doldrums often lead to modest pullbacks in August and September, investors who have doubted this rally are now forced to 'buy the dips...and not sell the rips' to play catch-up," Johnson wrote. "Based on the weight of the bullish technical evidence, we suspect our price objective will be achieved by mid-October."
