Nasdaq Closes at Record on Chip Stock Rally

Memory chipmakers Micron and SanDisk led the index to an all-time closing high, even as a rate-sensitive selloff in financials and a pullback in mortgage borrowing told a more complicated story underneath.

Market Snapshot

All figures are indicative opening levels as of this morning, September 23.

The Nasdaq closed around 27,244, a fresh record and up around 0.45 percent, while the S&P 500 finished essentially flat and the Dow slipped around 0.36 percent.

The VIX held around 14.29, signaling calm even as the Fed’s rate hike keeps working through the market.

Gold eased around 0.89 percent and silver around 1.71 percent, while oil held around $90.87 a barrel.

Micron jumped around 5.00 percent ahead of its September 30 earnings as AI-driven memory demand stayed in focus.

Lennar climbed around 6.38 percent after Berkshire Hathaway added to its stake despite a soft housing outlook.

Charles Schwab fell around 6.11 percent as investors reassessed the rate-sensitive brokerage’s earnings power.

Main Story

The Nasdaq’s record close tells only part of today’s story.

• Micron rose around 5.00 percent and SanDisk gained around 6.82 percent, both riding tight memory supply ahead of Micron’s September 30 earnings, per Yahoo Finance.
• The mainstream read is that AI-driven demand for memory chips keeps outrunning supply, pushing prices and shares higher across the sector.
• What the tape may be missing is the split underneath, with rate-sensitive names like Charles Schwab down sharply and investor Michael Burry reportedly adding short bets against memory makers.

Chart of the Day

The Nasdaq Composite closed around 27,244, a fresh record, with chip and memory names doing most of the lifting.

The index sits well above both its 50-day and 200-day averages, and RSI near 82 shows how stretched the move has become.

Support lines up near the 27,216 pivot, the level that matters if the rally is going to keep climbing without a pause.

Technical Trading

A few levels on the Nasdaq Composite, drawn from Investing.com:

• RSI(14) sits around 81.86, deep into overbought territory even as the index keeps grinding higher.
• The index trades well above its 50-day average near 26,482 and its 200-day average near 26,386.
• MACD is positive around 232, confirming upward momentum is still intact.
• Pivot resistance sits around 27,255 with support near 27,216, a tight range given how extended the tape looks.

Global News

1. President Trump told the UN General Assembly he is weighing whether to “annihilate” Iran, while predicting a deal after the midterms.
2. The Fed raised its target rate a quarter point to 3.75 to 4.00 percent last week, citing inflation risk from energy prices and tariffs.
3. Saudi Arabia restarted its East-West pipeline, adding supply that helped pull oil back from its recent highs.
4. US and Chinese officials proposed an AI safety notification system ahead of Thursday’s Trump-Xi summit in Washington.
5. Nearly 10 percent of mortgage borrowers opted for riskier loan structures last week as rates pushed over 7 percent.

Texas News

Westlake based Charles Schwab fell around 6.11 percent as investors reassessed the rate-sensitive brokerage’s earnings outlook after last week’s Fed hike.

Texas’s oil and gas upstream sector added 400 jobs in July and August, with fiscal year oil production tax revenue up more than 9 percent to $5.88 billion, per the Texas Comptroller.

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Looking Ahead

Thursday, September 24: The Trump-Xi summit in Washington puts AI safety and trade on the agenda, while Costco and Nike report earnings after the close.

Tuesday, September 30: Micron reports earnings, the next real test of whether the memory rally has legs.

Wednesday, October 15: Charles Schwab reports earnings, a first look at how the rate-sensitive brokerage business is holding up.

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Prices from Yahoo Finance, CNBC and Fortune. Technical levels from Investing.com and FXStreet. News from Reuters, Al Jazeera and CNBC.

For informational purposes only. Not investment advice. Prices are indicative opening levels and may differ from your broker.