The third quarter opened with a reality check for the stocks that led the first. After chipmakers roared roughly 80% higher in the first six months of the year, traders finally took some money off the table: Micron sank more than 10% and its peers fell hard, dragging the Nasdaq down 0.66%. It was a rotation, not a rout, as Meta jumped almost 9% on news of a new cloud business and the Dow briefly hit another record. Away from equities, gold bounced back above $4,000, clawing off eight-month lows, while oil slid to its cheapest since February.
Market snapshot
| Instrument | Level | Move |
|---|---|---|
| US equities (Wed Jul 1 close) | ||
| Dow Jones | ≈ 52,290 | −0.03% · record intraday, then eased |
| S&P 500 | ≈ 7,480 | −0.22% |
| Nasdaq Composite | ≈ 26,040 | −0.66% · chips drag |
| Big movers (single stocks) | ||
| Meta Platforms | cloud pivot | +8.8% |
| Micron | profit-taking | −10.6% |
| Metals, forex & energy | ||
| Gold (XAU/USD) | ≈ $4,030 | +0.5% · off 8-month low |
| EUR/USD | 1.1378 | −0.38% · dollar firm |
| Brent Crude | ≈ $70.94 | −2.75% · lowest since Feb |
Figures are verified on live price pages for the Wednesday 1 July session. Index levels are rounded; single-stock moves are shown for context. Gold rebounded intraday off near eight-month lows. Always check live prices with your broker.
Profit-taking hits the chips
The best trade of the first half became the first thing traders trimmed in the second. Semiconductors, which had surged around 80% in the first six months of 2026, were sold hard as investors banked profits and questioned whether AI-related valuations had run too far. Micron dropped 10.6%, AMD fell 6.9% and Intel lost 9%, and that was enough to pull the Nasdaq down 0.66%. But this was a rotation inside technology, not a stampede out of it. Meta jumped 8.8% after announcing plans to build a cloud business that would rent out its spare AI computing power, and other megacaps like Microsoft and Apple firmed up too. With communications and financial stocks doing the lifting, the Dow only slipped 0.03%, having touched a fresh record earlier, and the S&P eased just 0.22%.
Live gold chart (last three months). Prices shown are current, not the session covered above.
Gold bounces, oil sinks
Gold finally caught a bid. After a brutal quarter, its worst since 2013, that left it about 28% below January's peak near $5,600, the metal rebounded roughly 0.5% back above $4,000 to around $4,030, lifting off near eight-month lows. The bounce came less from the dollar, which actually held firm, and more from a safe-haven bid as lingering US-Iran doubts resurfaced and traders picked apart the first remarks from new Fed Chair Kevin Warsh. Oil went the other way. Brent slid 2.75% to $70.94, its lowest since February, as Iranian exports climbed and the acute supply fear that had gripped the market drained away. The euro slipped to 1.1378, still pinned by a firm dollar and expectations the Fed leans toward higher rates.
Jobs week is the real test
Under the surface, this is really a data week. Wednesday's numbers were a study in mixed signals: the ADP report showed just 98,000 private jobs added in June, below the roughly 120,000 expected, hinting the labour market is cooling, yet job openings jumped to a two-year high, hinting it is not. That tension keeps the Fed's path genuinely uncertain, and it all builds toward Friday's official payrolls report, which matters far more for the dollar and gold than any single session does. Until then, the sensible play is not to guess the number but to manage the trade in front of you: keep risk small per trade, size every position deliberately, and know which economic events move the market before they land. You can revisit how the record quarter finished in yesterday's wrap.
This market wrap is for information and education only and is not financial advice, a forecast, or a recommendation to buy or sell any instrument. Prices and percentage moves are approximate, sourced from public price pages and reports, and may be delayed or revised; single-stock moves cited are for context. Trading forex, CFDs and leveraged products carries a high level of risk and may not be suitable for all investors; you can lose more than your deposit. Always do your own research.