Tech and Chip Stocks Soar on Wall Street, SanDisk Surges Over 320% YTD, Intel Jumps 23%, Gold and Silver Rebound, US Imposes Financial Sanctions on Iran

U.S. stock indices closed mixed on Friday, April 24th. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.16%, while the S&P 500 index rose 0.8% and the Nasdaq Composite climbed 1.63%. Both the Nasdaq and S&P 500 indices reached new record closing highs.

Most major technology stocks advanced, with a key index tracking seven major U.S. tech giants rising 2.00%. Among individual stocks, Nvidia gained over 4%, closing at a record high for the first time since October 2025, with its market capitalization exceeding $5 trillion. Amazon rose more than 3%, while Meta Platforms and Microsoft each increased over 2%. Apple was a notable decliner, falling 0.87%.

The semiconductor sector experienced a significant rally. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index surged 4.32%, reaching a new all-time high. Intel performed exceptionally well, soaring 23.6% to a record high and becoming the best-performing stock in the S&P 500 index. This surge followed the company's second-quarter revenue forecast, which exceeded market expectations. Driven by Intel's performance, the AI hardware sector saw broad gains. ARM Holdings rose over 14%, Advanced Micro Devices jumped 13.9%, and Qualcomm increased 11.12%. KLA Corporation gained over 6%, and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company rose more than 5%.

The memory chip segment also showed strong performance. SanDisk Corp. climbed over 6%, with its share price briefly surpassing $1,000 during the session to set another record high. Year-to-date, the stock has skyrocketed more than 320%. Micron Technology also advanced over 3%.

The majority of U.S.-listed Chinese stocks closed higher, with the Nasdaq Golden Dragon China Index rising 1.59%. Popular Chinese ADRs generally gained, with new energy company Freyr Battery soaring over 35%. Baidu increased more than 5%, while XPeng Group and GDS Holdings rose over 4% each. MINISO Group and Alibaba both gained more than 3%. On the downside, Kingsoft Cloud Holdings fell over 3%, Li Auto declined nearly 3%, and iQIYI dropped more than 2%.

In the commodities market, spot gold and silver prices rebounded into positive territory. Spot gold climbed back above $2,350 per ounce, but still recorded a weekly decline of 2.66%. Spot silver rose 0.31% to $28.65 per ounce, ending the week down 6.34%.

International oil prices experienced significant volatility. U.S. West Texas Intermediate and Brent crude futures fell sharply in the evening before Brent pared some losses. At the close, U.S. crude was down 1% at $83.48 per barrel, while Brent crude settled at $89.08 per barrel.

Regarding international affairs, a second round of U.S.-Iran negotiations has yet to be finalized, and the United States has imposed a new round of financial sanctions on Iran. On April 24th local time, the U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control announced new sanctions related to Iran. Concurrently, OFAC updated its Specially Designated Nationals list, stating this was part of the adjustments related to the latest Iran sanctions.

Concerning the Federal Reserve, the U.S. Department of Justice has reportedly dropped a criminal investigation targeting the Federal Reserve and its Chair, Jerome Powell.

Late on the 24th, the latest U.S. economic data was released. The final reading for the one-year inflation expectation in April was 4.7%, compared to an expectation and previous reading of 4.80%. The final reading for the five-to-ten-year inflation expectation in April was 3.5%, versus an expectation and prior reading of 3.40%.

Additionally, during a Senate Banking Committee hearing this week, Kevin Warsh, a candidate for Federal Reserve Chair nominated by the U.S. President, provided his first systematic response regarding his policy approach and key market concerns. Addressing the critical issue of "independence," Warsh explicitly stated during the hearing that the Fed's monetary policy decisions must remain independent. He affirmed that if confirmed, he would perform his duties as an "independent actor."