The S&P 500 slipped at midday Thursday as Micron Technology Inc. (MU) fell 1.6% despite a record quarter, with the 10-year Treasury yield hovering near 5.25% and oil climbing back above $92.
Micron reported fiscal fourth-quarter revenue above $54 billion and guided first-quarter revenue to $61.5 billion, but the stock gave ground as investors weighed the print against surging yields.
Meanwhile, a blowout earnings report from Accenture plc (ACN) lit up IT services and AI-linked optical names.
The S&P 500 fell 12 points, or 0.2%, to 7,639, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 145 points, or 0.3%, to 50,761.
The Nasdaq 100 slipped 0.2% to 30,355, while the Russell 2000 was little changed at 2,795.
Minneapolis Federal Reserve President Neel Kashkari said “inflation is still too high” despite a cooler PCE reading, reinforcing bets that the central bank is not done tightening policy.
The 10-year Treasury yield fell 5 basis points to 5.24% by midday, retreating after it briefly touched 5.34% earlier in the session, its highest level since April 2002. The 30-year yield eased 3 basis points to 5.61%, after earlier reaching about 5.67%, its highest since July 2002.
Middle East risk premia remained firmly in energy prices. West Texas Intermediate crude futures gained 2.5% to $92.65 per barrel. Brent crude rose 3.5% to $101.46, back above the $100 mark.
Gold edged higher, with the SPDR Gold Shares (GLD) up 0.4% and gold futures near $4,195 per ounce. In crypto, Bitcoin held steady near $84,200, while the iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF (IBIT) rose 0.7%.
Thursday’s Performance in Major US Indices
According to market data:
- The Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO) slipped 0.2%.
- The SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF Trust (DIA) fell 0.3%.
- The Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) edged down 0.2%.
- The iShares Russell 2000 ETF (IWM) was flat, down less than 0.1%.
Accenture Ignites IT Services, Oil Lifts Energy as Yields Bite
Energy led the S&P 500 sectors, with the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLE) up 1.5%. Industrials gained 0.3% via the Industrials Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLI), while the Utilities Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLU) and the Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLK) edged up 0.2% and 0.1%, respectively.
On the downside, the Materials Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLB) fell 1.2%, the Health Care Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLV) lost 1.0%, the Communication Services Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLC) dropped 0.9%, the Real Estate Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLRE) declined 0.8% and the Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLF) slid 0.6%.
Among industry funds, the SPDR S&P Oil & Gas Exploration & Production ETF (XOP) jumped 2.0%, the SPDR S&P Insurance ETF (KIE) rose 0.8% and the VanEck Oil Services ETF (OIH) gained 0.5%. The iShares Expanded Tech-Software Sector ETF (IGV) added 0.4%, while the Invesco Water Resources ETF (PHO) fell 0.3%.
Accenture surged 18.2% after reporting fiscal fourth-quarter adjusted EPS of $3.29 versus the $3.18 consensus, on revenue of $18.68 billion versus the $18.03 billion estimate and bookings of $22.17 billion. The company guided fiscal 2027 revenue growth of 3% to 6% in local currency and EPS of $14.39 to $14.81.
The read-across lifted IT services peers, with Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp. (CTSH) up 6.7% and other IT services names also higher. Synopsys Inc. (SNPS) climbed 8.8% after announcing a licensing deal worth more than $1 billion with Amazon Web Services, a unit of Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN), and a partnership with OpenAI on AI chip design.
AI networking stocks also rallied. Coherent Corp. (COHR) rose 11.0% after unveiling its PhotonLink integrated-optics platform for AI data centers and winning an Outperform initiation from Bernstein, which also started Lumentum Holdings Inc. (LITE) at Outperform. Lumentum gained 9.2%, helped by fiscal fourth-quarter revenue of $1.006 billion, up 109% year over year.
Vicor Corp. (VICR) jumped 11.0% after raising its third-quarter sequential revenue growth guidance to above 30% from above 20%, on higher Vertical Power Delivery royalties. Fair Isaac Corp. (FICO) rebounded 10.5%, bouncing after Tuesday’s roughly 26% plunge on a change to mortgage credit-scoring rules; no fresh company-specific catalyst was confirmed in today’s tape.
On the downside, Fermi Inc. (FRMI) fell 5.3% to a fresh 52-week low, with no specific news catalyst confirmed; recent price-target cuts from Mizuho and Stifel have weighed on the stock. Tempus AI Inc. (TEM) slid 4.7%, giving back part of a sharp rally earlier this month, though no news catalyst was confirmed for today’s move.
AppLovin Corp. (APP) lost 4.5% and Versant Media Group Inc. (VSNT) fell 4.3%; no confirmed news catalyst was identified for either move. Alnylam Pharmaceuticals Inc. (ALNY) dropped 4.5% in line with weakness across health care, with no company-specific news identified.
After the close, Nike Inc. (NKE) is scheduled to report quarterly results.
