Wall Street Drifts in Mixed Trading    06/25 09:44

   The U.S. stock market is drifting in mixed trading Thursday after several 
artificial-intelligence stocks veered back up the roller coaster, while Apple 
dropped after hiking prices on many of its products.

   NEW YORK (AP) -- The U.S. stock market is drifting in mixed trading Thursday 
after several artificial-intelligence stocks veered back up the roller coaster, 
while Apple dropped after hiking prices on many of its products.

   The S&P 500 slipped 0.3% after erasing an early gain of 0.8%. The Dow Jones 
Industrial Average was up 228 points, or 0.4%, as of 10 a.m. Eastern time, and 
the Nasdaq composite was 1.2% lower.

   Micron Technology helped lead the market after jumping 9.7%. The maker of 
memory chips for computers reported much stronger profit and revenue for the 
latest quarter than analysts expected, and it gave a stronger growth forecast 
for the current quarter than Wall Street expected. That helped allay worries a 
bit that its stock had grown too expensive after coming into the day with a 
surge of 267% so far this year.

   Micron and AI stocks broadly have been under pressure recently because of 
worries that their profits can't possibly keep pace with the tremendous rallies 
for their stock prices. But beyond Micron, Qualcomm said late Thursday that the 
acceleration of the AI era is forcing it to upgrade forecasts for its own 
growth in upcoming years.

   The chip company said it expects its revenue outside of handsets, including 
data centers, to hit $40 billion in its fiscal year of 2029, roughly double its 
prior target. Qualcomm's stock rose 3.1%.

   But all the strong demand for computer memory and storage that's driving 
producers higher also means higher prices for customers. Apple on Thursday 
raised prices for many of its products, including increases of 15% to 20% for 
Mac computers, according to analysts. Its stock fell 4.8%.

   The broad U.S. stock market also got a lift from easing Treasury yields in 
the bond market. They regressed after a report showed inflation is behaving 
pretty much as economists expected.

   The price for a barrel of Brent crude oil, the international standard, 
slipped 0.1% to $73.81 and is near its roughly $72 price from just before the 
war with Iran. It's come well off its highs above $100 caused by the closure of 
the Strait of Hormuz because of the war, which slowed the global flow of oil.

   That jump in oil prices earlier this year sent inflation sharply higher, and 
a report showed that a measure of inflation hitting U.S. consumers accelerated 
to 4.1% last month from 3.8% in April. But that wasn't any worse than 
economists expected, and the hope is that inflation may ease because of the 
drop-off in oil prices.

   That helped the yield on the 10-year Treasury slip to 4.36% from 4.41% late 
Wednesday and from 4.56% earlier this month.

   High yields in bond markets worldwide caused by worries about inflation are 
threatening to slow economies, and they have already sent rates higher for 
mortgages and other kinds of loans. High yields also hurt prices for 
investments, particularly those seen as the most expensive. That raises the 
pressure on AI winners.

   In stock markets abroad, South Korea's Kospi jumped 5.4% after its own AI 
winners shot higher, including a 13.1% surge for SK Hynix.

   Other markets also rallied, including gains of 4.6% for Japan's Nikkei 225 
and 0.6% for the United Kingdom's FTSE 100. A 1.4% drop for Hong Kong's Hang 
Seng was an outlier.