Stock Market Today: Techs sag on report U.S. will limit chip exports

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Stock Market Today: Techs sag on report U.S. will limit chip exports originally appeared on TheStreet.
Updated 11:45 a.m. EDT
Stocks have lost their early gains on reports the Trump administration is planning to revoke waivers that allow chip companies to use American chipmaking technology in China.
The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index and the VanEck Semiconductor ETF () were both off 1.3%.
The catalyst was a Wall Street Journal report that a top Commerce Department official has told chip manufacturers like Taiwan Semiconductor () he wants to revoke waivers that gave them blanket permission to use American technology at their plants in China.
Instead, the Commerce Department would require export licenses on each instance of using U.S. technology in China, The Journal reported.
The idea, if enacted, would affect U.S. trade negotiations with China and could boost costs for the chipmakers.
As a result, the Standard & Poor's 500 Index was flat at 5,980. It had been as high as 6,018 early in the day. The Nasdaq-100 Index, which includes key chipmakers, was down 43 points to 21,677. It had been as high as 21,902.
Taiwan Semi was off 1.7% to $210.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was still up 159 points to 42,331.
Updated 10:20 a.m. EDT
Stocks jumped at the open, then faded slightly as investors seemed relieved that the U.S. was holding off on deciding whether to join Israel's war against Iran.
At 10 a.m. EDT the Standard& Poor's 500 Index had climbed 16 points to 5,997. The Dow Jones Industrial Average had jumped 167 points to 42,339.
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The Nasdaq Composite Index had risen 32 points to 19578, and the Nasdaq-100 index was up 53 points to 21,772.
President Trump said Thursday he expected to decide the question within two weeks.
Trump frequently delays decisions like these. His Republican Party has split between isolationists, who form the core of the MAGA side, and hawks, who favor attacking Iran to disable the country's nuclear ambitions.
Crude oil and gold prices were lower as war fever ebbed. Crude was off 52 cents to $74.60. Gold was down $28 to $3,380.
Silver, which hit a 52-week high of $37.41 per ounce on Wednesday, had fallen 98 cents to $35.94 but was still up 22.2% for the year.
It's not easy being Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell.
A day after the Fed held interest rates steady, President Trump was raging about the decision. Bill Pulte, chairman of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, was calling on the Fed chairman to cut rates or resign.
Christopher Waller, a Fed governor (and believed to covet the chairman's job), told CNBC Friday he thinks a rate cut could come early as the Fed's July 29-30 meeting
Powell's term as chairman doesn't end until May 2026, and Trump has basically guaranteed he won't be offered a third term.The battle has to do with how the Fed is affecting mortgage rates. Currently, a 30-year mortgage will cost about 6.8% to 6.9%. Housing data are generally weak, and building optimism is seriously depressed.
While Powell is the de facto leader of the Federal Open Market Committee, the Fed's rate-making body, he is only one of more than a dozen central bank officials who vote on the bank's interest rate moves.
Even so, Trump has raged at Powell for more than seven years after the president elevated him to lead the Fed in 2017.
Investors seemed relieved early Friday after President Donald Trump said he'd decide within two weeks whether to commit America to join Israel in its war against Iraq.
Oil prices were falling with crude oil down 39 cents to $73.11.
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Trump's decision seemed to surprise many after he'd called for "unconditional surrender" from Iran over its nuclear aspirations.
But Trump ally Steve Bannon, a vocal opponent of going to war, visited the White House on Thursday.
Futures trading suggests the Standard& Poor's 500 Index will open 8 points higher. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was looking at an opening increase of about 67 points, and Nasdaq-100 futures were up about 50 points.
U.S. markets had been closed Thursday for the Juneteenth holiday.
Shares of Accenture () were off 2% preopen even as the consulting giant reported better-than-expected earnings and revenue. Barron's cited weak bookings and leadership changes for the decline.
Shares of supermarket operator Kroger () were up 1% to $66.25. .
Building-materials supplier GMS () shares were up 27% premarket to $101 as a bidding war for the company erupted between Home Depot () and Brad Jacobs' QXO. GMS has a market capitalization of about $3.1 billion. Wall Street believes the bidding is already at $5 billion.
The 10-year note yield was up slightly at 4.436%.Stock Market Today: Techs sag on report U.S. will limit chip exports first appeared on TheStreet on Jun 20, 2025
This story was originally reported by TheStreet on Jun 20, 2025, where it first appeared.