The article is updated throughout the trading session.
The Nasdaq index was set for a strong rally in pre-market trading on Tuesday, but turned lower after half an hour of trading.
Here is how the key indices on Wall Street looked around 4:20 PM:
- The S&P 500 is up 0.39 percent.
- The Nasdaq Composite is down 0.43 percent.
- The Dow Jones is up 1.38 percent.
Apple raises prices
On Thursday, Apple announced that it is raising prices on several MacBook and iPad models, reports CNBC.
This is the first time the tech giant formally passes on increased component costs to customers. And more price increases may follow.
The MacBook Air with 512 GB storage increases from $1,099 to $1,299, while the MacBook Pro with 1 TB jumps from $1,699 to $1,999. The iPad Air with 128 GB rises from $599 to $749.
Apple's online store was down briefly on Thursday morning before reopening with the new prices.
"The consumer electronics industry is facing an unprecedented challenge," Apple wrote in a statement.
The company points to the massive growth in AI data centers, which has created extreme pressure on memory and storage components.
"We have never seen a component price increase so much, so quickly," it added.
Apple CEO Tim Cook told the Wall Street Journal last week that they can no longer shield customers from the higher costs.
"This is a once-in-a-century flood. I have never seen anything like this in over 40 years," Cook told the newspaper.
Apple stock falls 4.76 percent.
Revenue surge
Micron reported third-quarter results after Wall Street closed on Wednesday.
Revenue came in at $41.46 billion, more than four times the $9.3 billion the company had in the same period last year.
The chipmaker also expects revenue to rise further to $50 billion for the current quarter. Analysts had expected $43.58 billion.
The stock jumped about 17 percent in pre-market trading on Thursday. After the opening, Micron stock rose more than 18 percent, but the gain has moderated to 10.37 percent around 4:20 PM.
Chipmaker SanDisk follows suit, up 10 percent.
Inflation rises in the US
Fresh PCE data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) shows that price growth in the US came in at 4.1 percent in May, compared with 3.8 percent the same month last year.
Core inflation, which excludes energy prices and tax changes, was 3.4 percent.
"Inflation is the main challenge in the US right now," macroeconomist Karine Alsvik Nelson at Handelsbanken Capital Markets told E24 earlier on Thursday.
The US policy rate is currently in the range of 3.50-3.75 percent. The next rate meeting is at the end of July.
IBM launches new chip
IBM claims to have reached a new milestone in the semiconductor sector with what the company describes as the world's first sub-1-nanometer chip.
The tech giant presented the new research breakthrough on Thursday, which according to the company could pave the way for significantly more powerful and energy-efficient computer chips in the coming years.
The news comes at a time when AI infrastructure has become one of the world's most valuable technology markets. Here, players like Nvidia, Taiwan Semiconductor, Intel, AMD, and Samsung lead the way, investing heavily in chip technology tailored for AI data centers.
At the same time, chip companies are performing very well on the stock exchanges. The iShares Semiconductor ETF is up 111.38 percent year-to-date, despite geopolitical uncertainty affecting the markets.
According to IBM, the new 0.7-nanometer technology contains nearly 100 billion transistors on an area roughly the size of a fingernail.
The company also claims the technology can deliver up to 50 percent higher performance or 70 percent better energy efficiency compared to today's most advanced manufacturing processes.
"This represents the next step in the evolution of computing," IBM wrote in connection with the launch.
The background for the development is the explosive growth in artificial intelligence.
Large language models and advanced AI systems require enormous amounts of computing power, while energy consumption in data centers has become an increasing problem for both tech companies and governments.
Therefore, the race for more efficient chips has become one of the most important technological competitions in the world.
IBM stock is up 0.49 percent.
