Friday, June 26, 2026

Wall Street ended a volatile week on a muted note this Friday, as hawkish Federal Reserve sentiment—fueled by a 4.1% year-over-year rise in the May PCE Price Index (Core 3.4%)—kept major averages in the red. The Dow Jones slipped 0.09% to 51,876.11, the S&P 500 edged down 0.05% to 7,354.02, and the Nasdaq shed 0.24% to 25,297.617. Small caps successfully bucked the trend, however, with the Russell 2000 surging 0.79% to 3,010.084 during its annual reconstitution, an event that drove a record Nasdaq Closing Cross volume of $334 billion. Meanwhile, the VIX cooled 1.18% to 18.41.

Sectors in focus:

• Hardware & Semiconductors: Computer Storage Devices (-8.16%) and Semiconductors & Related Devices (-4.44%) were major drags. A broad tech sell-off was triggered by rising AI valuation skepticism and Apple sliding 6.1% after hiking Mac and iPad prices due to elevated memory costs. Compounding the weakness, ON Semiconductor plunged 22.8% on news of its Synaptics acquisition.
• Software & Services: Service-heavy tech industries attracted rotation buyers. Management Consulting Services (+5.58%) and Prepackaged Software (+5.56%) led the broader market.
• Energy & Metals: WTI Crude tumbled 2.88% to 69.85 after a U.S.-Iran truce reopened the Strait of Hormuz, rapidly evaporating global supply shortage fears. Conversely, Gold climbed 0.90% to settle at 4,083.9.

On the radar: Next week brings critical economic data that will further shape interest rate expectations going into the summer.

• Jun 29: 13-week and 26-week Bill Auctions
• Jun 30: Case-Shiller Home Price Index (Apr) and Consumer Confidence Index (Jun)
• Jul 01: ADP Employment Report (Jun) and ISM Manufacturing PMI (Jun)
• Jul 02: June Nonfarm Payrolls and Unemployment Rate