US Stocks Close: Three Major Indexes Pull Back From Highs, SanDisk Hits New Record High, CPU Stocks Gain Against Trend

TradingKey - On June 3, Eastern Time, the three major U.S. stock indices were all under pressure due to a rebound in U.S. Treasury yields, while technology stocks pulled back across the board.

At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.21% to 50,687.87 points; the S&P 500 Index dropped 0.73% to 7,553.86 points; and the Nasdaq Composite Index declined 0.89% to 26,853.98 points.

Tech stock performance

SanDisk (SNDK) rose 6.71% to close at $1,831.50, hitting a late-session high of $1,861 and reaching another all-time high.

On the news front, Morgan Stanley stated that DRAM has become a core bottleneck for AI infrastructure expansion, and NAND supply is also extremely tight, with the supply-demand imbalance expected to persist for 2 to 3 years or even longer. The firm raised its price target for SanDisk by 59.09% to $1,750 while maintaining an Overweight rating.

The firm noted that the fundamental reason there is "no quick fix" for this memory shortage is that capacity expansion faces two unavoidable physical bottlenecks: the long construction cycles for cleanrooms and limited production capacity for EUV extreme ultraviolet lithography machines. Morgan Stanley characterized DRAM as the "primary bottleneck" for current AI infrastructure expansion, noting that hyperscalers' purchasing intent remains strong and their willingness to pay a premium continues to stay high.

Other tech giants were mostly lower: Meta Platforms (META) rose 4.24% and Micron Technology (MU) gained 1.45%; on the downside, NVIDIA (NVDA) fell 3.62%, Microsoft (MSFT) dropped 3.17%, Amazon (AMZN) declined 2.53%, Apple (AAPL) fell 1.57%, Alphabet (GOOGL) slid 0.79%, Broadcom (AVGO) shed 0.49%, and Tesla (TSLA) dipped 0.01%.

The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index extended yesterday's gains, closing up 1.39% at 13,916.96 points, once again refreshing its record high. Among its 30 constituents, 22 advanced while 8 declined.

Memory-related stocks were among the top gainers, with SanDisk up 6.71%, Western Digital (WDC) rising 5.51%, Seagate Technology (STX) gaining 1.52%, and Micron Technology (MU) up 1.45%.

CPU stocks bucked the broader market trend to trade higher, with Intel (INTC) up 4.43%, AMD (AMD) rising 4.02%, Qualcomm (QCOM) gaining 3.81%, and Arm Holdings (ARM) climbing 2.26%.

US-listed Chinese stocks fell across the board, with Qifu Technology (QFIN) dropping 8.21%, Chagee (CHA) falling 7.22%, Kingsoft Cloud (KC) shedding 7.01%, Futu Holdings (FUTU) down 5.64%, and NIO (NIO) declining 4.33%.

Corporate News

Anthropic Taps Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs as Core Underwriters for IPO

According to people familiar with the matter, Anthropic has finalized its core IPO underwriting syndicate, with Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs serving as joint lead underwriters. JPMorgan Chase has also confirmed its participation in the offering, as the company pushes to list before OpenAI.

According to recent media reports, Anthropic has confidentially filed for an IPO with regulators and could officially list as early as October this year, with the possibility of further expanding the underwriting syndicate.

Bill Ackman Plans to Sell Stake in Universal Music Group

According to a placement announcement released by Bank of America on Wednesday, Ackman's Pershing Square will sell approximately 80.6 million shares of Universal Music through an overnight block trade. The price range is set at 17.66-18.62 euros per share, potentially raising about 1.5 billion euros at the upper limit. Bank of America is the sole underwriter for the transaction. It is reported that Universal Music Group recently rejected a buyout offer from hedge fund billionaire Bill Ackman.

Musk's xAI Pauses "AI Tutor" Recruitment Program

According to several people familiar with the matter, Elon Musk's artificial intelligence company has stopped hiring professionals across various fields to train its Grok chatbot, a move that may signal a shift in its technical development path.

The core reason for the suspension is attributed to internal management issues: the human resources department was overwhelmed by the surge in hiring and could not process the large volume of candidate applications in a timely manner.

Sources emphasized that the pause is a temporary measure, and recruitment could resume in the future. However, it is noteworthy that xAI's human data team, responsible for model training, has experienced ongoing turmoil recently. The team currently employs hundreds of AI tutors globally and is a core pillar supporting the iterative improvement of Grok's capabilities.

Uber Launches New Round of Organizational Streamlining, Cutting 23% of Human Resources Roles

Uber has launched a new round of organizational streamlining to optimize operational efficiency. Uber CEO Jill Hazelbaker stated that the adjustment is a necessary step to improve the overall effectiveness of the HR team and unlock the company's long-term growth potential. The layoffs primarily impact recruiting and core human resources functions. Although the percentage of cuts within the department is high, the affected employees represent less than 1% of Uber's global workforce of 34,000 due to the relatively small size of the HR team.

SpaceX Finalizes Core Pricing for Largest Tech IPO in History

According to people familiar with the matter, SpaceX has set its IPO price at $135 per share, breaking industry convention by not providing a price range and opting instead for a fixed pricing model. This decision was made after gauging market demand through multiple rounds of investor meetings.

According to the offering plan, SpaceX will issue 555.6 million shares to the public, aiming to raise $75 billion. At $135 per share, the company's overall valuation would reach $1.75 trillion.

Industry & Macro News

Fed Beige Book Shows Stable US Employment and Rising Inflation

According to the Federal Reserve's Beige Book released on Wednesday, economic activity in 10 of the 12 districts across the country maintained a 'slight to modest' pace of expansion, as the overall economy continued its moderate recovery.

On inflationary pressures, the report explicitly noted that energy costs driven up by conflicts in the Middle East are the core driver of current inflation, with impacts spreading from energy to the entire supply chain, including shipping, packaging, food, and fertilizer. Meanwhile, several regions reported that rising fuel prices are squeezing household disposable income, leading to noticeable fluctuations in consumer confidence.

Trump Administration Issues New Copper Tariff Rules, Relaxing Standards for Domestic Content Identification

The Trump administration has introduced new copper tariff regulations, significantly relaxing the standards for identifying domestic copper content and markedly lowering the threshold for importers to receive tariff preferences. In a notice published in the Federal Register on Wednesday, the US government adjusted import tariffs on aluminum, steel, and copper. It maintained the 50% tariff rate for some copper products while lowering the threshold for products to be deemed 'made entirely of US copper'.

Fed’s No. 3 Williams: Interest Rate Path Remains Unclear

New York Fed President John Williams sent a fresh policy signal, stating clearly that the current stance of US monetary policy is appropriate, with no need for rate adjustments in the short term and no clear direction for the future interest rate path. In an exclusive interview with Yahoo Finance, Williams emphasized that there is currently neither a necessity for a rate hike nor an urgency for a cut, and that monetary policy is in the sweet spot for balancing inflation and growth. This statement stands in sharp contrast to previous market expectations that the Fed might restart rate cuts.

On inflation, Williams acknowledged that pressures remain, as rising energy prices, the implementation of tariff policies, and massive investment in the AI industry have collectively pushed up price levels. However, he also noted that the services component of core inflation has shown signs of a significant slowdown, providing support for maintaining policy stability.

US Private Sector Adds 122,000 Jobs in May, the Most Since January 2025

The US labor market is demonstrating resilience that exceeds expectations. The latest ADP employment report for May shows that the private sector added 122,000 jobs, slightly higher than the market expectation of 120,000 and up from the previous reading of 105,000, marking the largest single-month increase since January 2025.

This better-than-expected employment data will directly influence expectations for Fed policy. If the official non-farm payrolls data released on Friday further confirms this trend, market bets on Fed rate cuts will cool further, and may even shift toward pricing in the possibility of a rate hike later this year. This echoes the 'higher for longer' policy signals recently telegraphed by several Fed officials.