- The S&P 500 index rose by 1.79% to close at 7736.52 points, marking its first record high since June; the Dow Jones index increased by 1.71%, the Nasdaq Composite index surged by 2.59%, and the Philadelphia Semiconductor index soared by 6.55%.
- International crude oil futures prices plummeted, with WTI crude falling 5.7% to settle at $75.77 per barrel, and Brent crude dropping 5.3% to $79.36 per barrel, mainly due to heightened expectations of a U.S.-Iran agreement to resume navigation in the Strait of Hormuz.
- U.S. June JOLTs job openings slightly decreased to 7.36 million, indicating moderate resilience in the labor market; U.S. Treasury Secretary Besent noted that core inflation remains stable.
Expectations of Strait of Hormuz Navigation Reshape Market Risk Appetite
During Tuesday's U.S. stock trading session, geopolitical risk premiums were rapidly released. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Besent publicly stated that an agreement to open the Strait of Hormuz might be reached in the short term. This statement directly triggered a significant pullback in the oil market, with both WTI and Brent crude oil dropping over 5% intraday. The decline in oil prices quickly alleviated market concerns about an energy-driven inflation rebound, leading to a large-scale flow of funds back into equity assets, pushing the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average to simultaneous record closing highs.
Storage Chips and Semiconductor Sector Lead Equity Market Gains
Against the backdrop of warming risk appetite, the semiconductor industry became the core direction for fund purchases. The Philadelphia Semiconductor index surged by 6.55% throughout the day. Among them, storage chip manufacturer SanDisk (SNDK:US) soared by 10.8%, Micron Technology (MU:US) rose by 7.6%, South Korea's SK Hynix (000660:KS) increased by 8%, and Nvidia (NVDA:US) gained over 2%. Market analysis suggests that the continuous advancement of downstream data center construction and strong demand for computing infrastructure are constantly improving the supply-demand balance and profit expectations in the storage chip industry.
Moderate Cooling in Labor Data and Policy Path Assessment
On the macro data front, U.S. June JOLTs job openings fell to 7.36 million, slightly below the market expectation of 7.40 million. The reduction in positions was mainly concentrated in the healthcare and business services sectors, while hiring and layoff data remained stable overall. Regarding the monetary policy path, Treasury Secretary Besent argued that monetary policy should retain flexibility, while noting that core inflation, excluding energy volatility, is very stable. If core inflation remains in a moderate range, the Federal Reserve will have greater flexibility in assessing interest rate levels in the future.
