- In June, the U.S. added only 57,000 non-farm jobs, significantly below expectations, which heightened market speculation that the Federal Reserve might pause interest rate hikes soon. This pushed the Dow Jones Industrial Average up by 1.14% to a record high on Thursday.
- Tesla delivered 480,100 vehicles in the second quarter, significantly surpassing Wall Street's expectation of 406,600. However, due to concerns over increased market competition, limitations in U.S. charging infrastructure, and political statements affecting potential demand, its stock price fell sharply by 7.49%.
- The semiconductor and storage sectors, which had seen significant gains, experienced large-scale profit-taking. SanDisk's stock plummeted by 14% in the afternoon, dragging the Nasdaq Composite Index down by 0.8%, indicating a shift in AI trading funds from hardware to software industries.
Cooling Labor Market Eases Rate Hike Expectations
The U.S. non-farm data for June showed weakness, with only 57,000 new jobs added, far below the economists' consensus forecast of 115,000, indicating a clear slowdown in labor market growth. Although the unemployment rate unexpectedly fell to 4.2%, the weak employment data lowered the yield on 2-year U.S. Treasury bonds. Market analysts believe that with inflation pressures easing due to geopolitical tensions subsiding, this provides a reasonable window for the Federal Reserve, led by Chair Powell, to keep rates unchanged at the next policy meeting.
Tesla's Strong Deliveries Fail to Boost Stock Price
Tesla delivered 480,126 vehicles in the second quarter, a significant 25% year-over-year increase, far exceeding the expectations set by Wall Street analysts. However, this strong sales performance did not save its secondary market performance, as the company's stock fell by over 7% on the day, marking its worst single-day performance in nearly a year. Investors are concerned about the company's lack of disclosure on specific regional sales details, and Musk's personal political statements, along with fierce competition from European and Chinese automakers in the low-cost, high-spec electric vehicle sector, continue to divert potential buyers.
Hardware Sector Pullback Pressures Nasdaq
The semiconductor and storage chip sectors saw a deep pullback for the second consecutive trading day, with the VanEck Semiconductor ETF plunging 4.5%, becoming a major factor dragging down the Nasdaq and S&P 500 indices. SanDisk, after soaring nearly 8.6 times in the first half of 2026, faced concentrated selling on Thursday, plummeting by 14% during the session. Industry analysts pointed out that this sharp decline was not due to a deterioration in fundamentals, as institutions like Bank of America had just raised its revenue guidance. The drop more reflects a technical correction as funds lock in profits from the previously booming AI hardware sector.
AI Trading Reassessment and Sector Rotation
Although the three major U.S. stock indices maintained overall weekly gains in the shortened trading week, structural divergence within sectors revealed Wall Street's latest reflections on AI trading. Investment institutions are beginning to scrutinize the sensitivity of tech companies to computing power costs, with the highly valued AI hardware and storage hardware sectors facing a phase of repricing. Funds are gradually withdrawing from the previously booming chip manufacturing and equipment fields, turning instead to seek opportunities in the AI software sector and downstream chains with capital expenditure realization capabilities. The market trading style is shifting towards defense and balance.
