Nasdaq Surges 1.91% to Close at Record 26,517.93 Before Holiday as Intel-Apple Deal Ignites Chip Rally

The Nasdaq Composite surged 1.91% on Thursday, closing at a record 26,517.93, up 496.28 points, as a blockbuster semiconductor partnership announcement and easing Middle East tensions combined to power one of the tech-heavy index's strongest single-day rallies in recent weeks heading into the three-day Juneteenth holiday weekend.

U.S. equities closed higher on Thursday, as tech strength and optimism over the U.S.-Iran deal offset concerns over a hawkish Federal Reserve. The S&P 500 advanced 1% and the Nasdaq 100 gained 1.9%, while the Dow rose by 72 points.

Intel's Surprise Apple Partnership Drives the Rally

The single most significant catalyst behind Thursday's tech-sector surge was a surprise announcement involving two of the most closely watched names in American semiconductor and consumer electronics manufacturing. Intel surged 10.6% after President Trump announced that the semiconductor giant would produce chips for Apple in the U.S.

The announcement sent ripples across the entire chip sector, lifting a broad swath of semiconductor names that had struggled earlier in the month. The news lifted the broader chip sector, with Nvidia up 2.8% and Micron Technology climbing 8.5%.

AI powerhouse Nvidia continued its upward trajectory, gaining 1.77% to reach $225.01 on news of increased infrastructure spending. The stock's continued strength reflected ongoing investor enthusiasm for companies positioned at the center of the artificial intelligence buildout, even amid broader market uncertainty tied to monetary policy.

Easing Middle East Tensions Add Further Support

Beyond the chip sector catalyst, broader market sentiment continued to benefit from the formal signing of an interim peace agreement between the United States and Iran, which has helped calm fears of sustained volatility in global energy markets. The interim peace agreement signed by the U.S. and Iran, which includes the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, raised hopes for an end to the conflict and eased concerns about volatile energy prices.

That improved geopolitical outlook extended its benefits beyond the technology sector and into other parts of the market sensitive to energy costs and global stability. Airlines also saw strong gains, with American Airlines rising 3.3%.

The Hawkish Fed Backdrop That Preceded the Rally

Thursday's gains came as markets continued working through the implications of a notably hawkish signal delivered by the Federal Reserve just one day earlier. The Federal Reserve kept rates steady, with half of officials signaling that at least one rate increase may be warranted this year.

That hawkish dot plot had triggered a sharp selloff in the prior session, making Thursday's recovery all the more notable. Equity indexes rose and yields were flat Thursday ahead of the open as investors recovered some of the ground lost after the Federal Reserve, in Kevin Warsh's first meeting as chair, indicated the possibility of a rate hike this year.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average had lost more than 500 points Wednesday and the S&P 500 slumped 1.2% as hopes for a more dovish Fed were quickly dashed, with all 11 of its sectors closing in the red.

Volatility Eases Sharply

The combination of the Intel-Apple announcement and the formalized Iran peace deal appeared to substantially calm investor anxiety that had built up earlier in the week. The CBOE Volatility Index, often referred to as Wall Street's fear gauge, fell sharply by 11.06% to 16.40, a notable decline that reflected renewed confidence among traders heading into the long holiday weekend.

Strength Extended Across Major Indexes

Thursday's rally was not confined to the Nasdaq alone, with virtually every major U.S. benchmark posting solid gains during the session. The S&P 500 closed up 1.08% at 7,500.58, while the Russell 2000 Index, which tracks smaller companies, gained 2.12%.

Dow Futures also trended higher throughout the session, rising 95.00, or 0.18%, to reach 52,039.00, signaling continued optimism among traders looking ahead to the next full trading session.

International Markets Largely Joined the Advance

The positive sentiment driving U.S. markets Thursday extended to several major international exchanges as well, though the response was not uniform across every region. Japan's Nikkei 225 climbed 1.65%, Germany's DAX rose 0.37%, and France's CAC 40 gained 0.44%.

Not every overseas market participated in the rally, however. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index declined 1.59%, and London's FTSE 100 fell 1.04%, illustrating that the optimism driving U.S. trading was not universally shared across global markets, with some regions continuing to grapple with their own distinct sets of economic and geopolitical pressures.

A Narrow but Powerful Rally

Despite the strength of Thursday's headline numbers, market analysts noted that the rally's underlying composition was relatively concentrated rather than broad-based. The primary narrative driving the market on Thursday was the resilience of industrial manufacturing and AI-driven hardware, which managed to offset broader weakness in enterprise software and consumer retail. While the index reached new heights, the narrow breadth of the rally suggested selective investor sentiment as the market digested new economic data.

That narrow breadth was reflected in the mixed performance among individual technology and consumer names even as the overall index surged. Software giant Salesforce fell 1.64% to $168.45 during the session, demonstrating that not every corner of the technology sector shared in the day's broader enthusiasm, even as semiconductor and AI infrastructure names led the charge higher.

Markets Now Closed for the Juneteenth Holiday

With Thursday's record-setting session now complete, U.S. markets will remain closed for the remainder of the week in observance of a federal holiday. The New York Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq will be closed for trading on June 19, 2026, in observance of the federal holiday of Juneteenth. Both major stock exchanges first closed for the holiday in 2022, after Juneteenth was designated as a federal holiday in 2021.

The stock and bond markets will reopen Monday, June 22, and it will be business as usual on Wall Street for a few days, with the next scheduled market closure coming Friday, July 3, in observance of Independence Day.

Heading into the long holiday weekend, Thursday's powerful close leaves the Nasdaq at a fresh record high, with investors set to return Monday to assess whether the combination of strong AI and semiconductor momentum, improving geopolitical conditions in the Middle East, and lingering uncertainty over the Federal Reserve's rate path can sustain the index's recent upward trajectory. Given the narrow, hardware-and-chip-concentrated nature of Thursday's advance, market watchers will be closely monitoring whether sectors like enterprise software and consumer retail — which lagged notably during the session — can join the rally once trading resumes next week, or whether Thursday's gains prove to be a more selective, short-lived response to a single high-profile corporate announcement.