Apple Foldable iPhone Rally Cushions S&P 500 Amid Chip Selloff
A surprise Apple surge tied to foldable iPhone buzz offset chip-sector losses Thursday, leaving major indexes split on direction after a weak jobs report.
A disappointing U.S. jobs report collided with an Apple-driven rally on Thursday, creating a tug-of-war across major stock indexes that left Wall Street without a clear winner for the session. The rare split in index performance underscored just how much a single mega-cap stock can move markets when broader economic data turns bearish.
Apple shares surged on renewed excitement surrounding its long-rumored foldable iPhone, giving the S&P 500 enough of a lift to avoid a steeper decline that the semiconductor sector was threatening to deliver. Chip stocks, which have been among the market's most volatile names in recent months, dragged on indexes as investors rotated out of the high-flying cohort.
Read more Intel Falls 6%, AMD Drops 5% as Chip Stocks Sell Off Hard →
The weak jobs data added a layer of uncertainty, stoking debate among traders about the Federal Reserve's next policy move and whether the labor market is cooling faster than anticipated. Soft employment numbers typically fuel speculation about rate cuts, but they also raise concerns about slowing consumer spending — a headwind for the very tech products Apple is betting on.
The divergence between Apple's climb and the chip-sector retreat highlights a broader tension in today's market: enthusiasm for next-generation consumer hardware versus anxiety over the macro backdrop that could determine whether shoppers actually buy it. Foldable device demand remains an unproven thesis, and investors appeared willing Thursday to price in optimism ahead of any concrete product announcement.
Continue reading at Yahoo for the full breakdown of Thursday's market action and index-by-index performance.
