Stocks opened higher across the board Monday as chips stocks rebounded from Friday’s drubbing. But while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite and the broader S&P 500 held their gains through the close, the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average was not so resilient.
At the close, the Nasdaq was up 0.9% at 25,929 and the S&P 500 was 0.3% higher at 7,405. The Dow, on the other hand, was down 0.2% at 50,786.
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“The AI-fueled tech rally got a bit of a reality check last week, but after nine straight up weeks, the market was arguably due for at least a reset,” says Chris Larkin, managing director of trading and investing at E*TRADE from Morgan Stanley. “The fact that Friday’s strong jobs report appeared to add fuel to the selling indicates the market could be even more focused on inflation going forward.”
And while Larkin says Friday’s sharp losses did not “derail the rally,” it does suggest market participants are “more sensitive to negative surprises in the near term.”
This makes the Wednesday morning release of the May Consumer Price Index (CPI) an even bigger economic calendar event than usual, because recent hot inflation readings have erased any expectations for rate cuts this year.
According to CME Group FedWatch, futures traders don’t expect any rate cuts at all in 2026. Earlier this year, betting odds were for at least one quarter-point cut.
The Federal Open Market Committee may even consider rate hikes this year, writes David Payne, staff economist and reporter for The Kiplinger Letter, in the Kiplinger inflation outlook. “The Fed generally discounts energy price fluctuations in its deliberations on interest rate policy. But the central bank will also note that ‘core’ inflation (excluding food and energy) is likely to creep upwards as the year progresses,” he explains.
Wednesday’s inflation date hits one week before the Fed — now led by Chair Kevin Warsh — issues its latest policy decision.
Intel, Micron lead chip rebound
Chip stocks created the biggest buying pressure to start the week, rebounding after disappointing Broadcom’s (AVGO, +2.8%) guidance sparked an industry-wide meltdown.
Intel (INTC, +11.2%) and Micron Technology (MU, +9.9%) were the best-performing S&P 500 stocks Monday, followed closely by KLA Corp. (KLAC, +9.3%).
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Meanwhile, Marvell Technology (MRVL), which will join the S&P 500 ahead of the June 22 open — replacing Pool (POOL, -2.5%) — surged 9.6%.
S&P Global also announced that data center solutions firm Flex (FLEX, -0.7%) will replace The Campbell’s Company (CPB, -0.9%) on the S&P 500, effective June 22.
Apple slips as WWDC kicks off
Not all tech stocks were higher to start the week. Apple (AAPL), for one, dropped 1.9% as the iPhone parent kicked off WWDC 2026, its annual developers conference.
In addition to unveiling new child safety features for parents and its latest operating systems, the company also gave a highly anticipated update to its artificial intelligence strategy.
For one thing, Apple is rebranding Siri as “Siri AI” and it will use Apple Intelligence to become “a profoundly more capable assistant,” said Mike Rockwell, VP of engineering at Apple.
The company also announced new ways users can utilize Apple Intelligence, including fixing insecure passwords and analyzing videos taken with the Home app.
Earlier this year, Apple said that it signed a multi-year agreement with Alphabet’s (GOOGL, -1.4%) Google to use its Gemini AI model to power Siri and Apple Intelligence.
Wedbush analyst Dan Ives thinks Apple’s AI initiatives will be a game-changer for the Dow Jones stock.
“We strongly believe this will be the start of AI monetization period of the Apple ecosystem as the company will continue lay the foundation through its new operating system updates across mac, iOS, iPad, and others with its iOS 27 update,” Ives writes in a June 4 research note.
And the company’s AI monetization efforts “will ultimately add $75 to $100 to Apple stock and that is not being factored into the current multiple in our view,” he says. “We see a golden path ahead for Apple in this AI era … it starts at WWDC.”
