Deutsche Bank analysts note the S&P 500 hit a fresh record, extending its year-to-date gain to nearly 10%, supported by renewed AI enthusiasm and easing fears around the US-Iran situation. Chipmakers led gains, with the Philadelphia semiconductor index surging, even as overall breadth was narrow and many S&P 500 constituents actually finished lower.

AI chip surge lifts US equities

"Elsewhere in Asia, the Nikkei (+0.71%) is higher along with the ASX (+0.28%) but the Hang Seng (-0.85%), the CSI (-0.72%), and the Shanghai Composite (-1.11%) are lower. US equity futures are fairly flat. "

"Other cyclical sectors also advanced, though the breadth of the gains was fairly narrow with just over half of the S&P 500 constituents lower on the day."

"Even with lingering questions, the Iran deal optimism coming out of the weekend was sufficient to push the S&P 500 (+0.61%) to a new record high, extending its YTD gain to +9.84%. The rally was also boosted by renewed optimism around chipmakers, with the Philly semiconductor index surging +5.53% and the Nasdaq up +1.19%."

"This was led by Micron (+19.3%) as we discussed earlier and is now up an astonishing +859% over the past year."

(This article was created with the help of an Artificial Intelligence tool and reviewed by an editor.)