Markets News, June 22, 2026: Dow Ekes Out Gain as Big Tech Stocks Weigh on Nasdaq; SpaceX Falls To Lowest Close Ever

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed higher on Monday, June 22, 2026, while the Nasdaq Composite and the S&P 500 fell. A sell-off in the largest technology stocks pulled down the cap-weighted benchmarks, and the 30-stock Dow held a small gain. SpaceX shares had their worst session since the company went public and ended at their lowest close as a listed stock. Below that index-level split, the day was busy: memory chipmakers set new records ahead of Micron’s earnings, Super Micro Computer led the S&P 500, AbbVie agreed to buy Apogee Therapeutics, and oil fell as U.S.-Iran peace talks went on through a tense weekend.

This coverage follows the trading day from premarket futures to the close, then looks ahead to the rest of the week. It explains why the indexes moved in different directions, which company news mattered, and which events could move prices in the coming sessions. Some stock, commodity and currency figures are intraday readings and may differ from final settlement values.

Why the Dow Rose While the Nasdaq Fell

The split came from how the indexes are weighted. The Dow is price-weighted, so a company’s size does not set its influence. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite are weighted by market capitalization, which gives the largest companies the most pull. On Monday, Alphabet (GOOG) fell 5% and was the weakest of the Magnificent Seven. Amazon (AMZN) lost nearly 5%. Most of the other megacap tech names also closed lower, and Tesla (TSLA) was the exception with a 1% gain. Those few companies account for a large share of the Nasdaq Composite’s total value, so their declines outweighed the record-setting rally in memory and chip stocks. The S&P 500 slipped by a smaller margin because its weighting spreads across more sectors.

Smaller companies did better. The Russell 2000 small-cap index finished higher, along with the Dow. That points to a rotation away from crowded megacap positions, not to broad selling across all stocks.

Monday also came after a three-day weekend. U.S. stock exchanges were closed on Friday, June 19, for the Juneteenth federal holiday, so Thursday, June 18, was the previous trading session. Any comparison to “the prior close” in Monday’s coverage means Thursday’s close. The major indexes had ended that holiday-shortened week higher, their second straight weekly gain. They recovered after falling in the sessions that followed the Federal Reserve’s hawkish policy meeting on Wednesday, June 17.

U.S.-Iran Peace Talks and the Oil Market

Over the weekend, geopolitical news set the tone before futures trading opened Sunday evening. Peace talks between the United States and Iran started badly. On Saturday, Iran said it had closed the Strait of Hormuz in response to fighting between Israel and the Iran-backed group Hezbollah in Lebanon. Ships kept passing through the strait during the weekend, although traffic was far below its prewar level. On Sunday, President Donald Trump threatened to renew strikes if Iran did not stop Hezbollah from “causing trouble.” By Monday, mediators said the two sides had made “encouraging progress.”

The Strait of Hormuz matters to markets because it is one of the world’s main chokepoints for seaborne crude. Even a declared closure that does not fully stop shipping can raise the risk premium priced into oil futures. Monday went the other way, mostly because of a policy decision: the U.S. Treasury authorized the sale of Iranian oil for the next 60 days, which points to more potential supply. West Texas Intermediate futures, the U.S. benchmark, fell 2% to about $75 a barrel. Brent crude, the global benchmark, fell 3% to about $78.

Energy prices feed into the inflation outlook, and inflation is the main focus for rate expectations right now (see the week ahead below). Lower crude prices ease some of the pressure on fuel and transportation costs. They do not change data that has already been published, and they cannot settle how the Fed will read inflation that is running well above target.

Premarket: Dow Jones Futures Pointed Higher

Before the opening bell, stock futures were edging up. Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average were up 0.2% in premarket trading, and Nasdaq 100 futures pointed to a 0.3% gain. The early tone reflected the mediators’ upbeat comments on the U.S.-Iran talks. It did not last into the cash session for tech stocks: the Nasdaq reversed into a sizable loss, and the Dow held onto its gain.

Memory and Chip Stocks Extend Their Rally

AI hardware stocks started the week strong, led by Micron Technology (MU) ahead of its quarterly report after the bell on Wednesday. Micron jumped more than 6% to a record high in early trading. It gave back part of that gain by midday, and reports at different points in the session put the increase between about 4% and 7%. Either way, Micron was among the best performers in both the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq on a day when both indexes fell.

Other memory and storage names also reached new highs. Sandisk (SNDK) and Seagate Technology (STX) hit records, and so did Intel (INTC) and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD). The Roundhill Memory ETF (DRAM) rose about 4% and the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOX) rose about 0.5%, with both reaching new highs earlier in the session.

Expectations for Micron’s quarter are very high. Analysts surveyed by Visible Alpha expect fiscal third-quarter revenue of $36.15 billion, almost four times the figure from a year earlier. They project adjusted earnings per share of $20.95, compared with $1.91 in the same quarter last year. On Monday, Morgan Stanley analysts said they expect Micron to beat consensus estimates, pointing to a global shortage of memory parts that has not yet eased.

Memory and data-storage stocks have been among the market’s best performers in recent months, with demand coming from the buildout of AI data centers. Micron has been one of the three biggest gainers in the S&P 500 this year. After Monday’s advance, its shares were worth more than four times what they were at the start of the year and had risen more than 850% over the past 12 months. Micron’s market capitalization has passed $1 trillion.

A run that size changes what an earnings report has to deliver. When analysts are openly forecasting a beat, matching the consensus may not be enough to support the stock. Guidance for the next quarter and comments on how long the memory shortage might last could matter as much as the headline numbers. Micron’s report will also be read as a signal for the wider AI hardware trade, which is one reason chip stocks rose before the release.

Super Micro Computer Leads the S&P 500

Super Micro Computer (SMCI) was the best-performing stock in the S&P 500 on Monday, up nearly 18%. The jump came after the company introduced a new Nvidia-equipped server design for AI-driven scientific research at a high-performance computing conference in Hamburg, Germany.

The product is a Data Center Building Block Solutions (DCBBS) Blueprint for high-performance computing. It is a server unit that can hold up to 1,152 of Nvidia’s Vera Rubin GPUs and 576 Rubin CPUs, and it can be deployed in clusters of up to 1 gigawatt, roughly enough electricity to power as many as a million homes. In the company’s announcement, CEO Charles Liang said research organizations could deploy high-performance computing and AI infrastructure “at any scale,” citing Supermicro’s experience building some of the world’s largest liquid-cooled clusters.

Monday’s rally put Super Micro shares up nearly 25% since the start of the year. That is well behind the memory stocks, but the stock still led the benchmark on a day when the biggest technology companies fell.

SpaceX Falls to Its Lowest Close Since Its IPO

SpaceX (SPCX) dropped 16% to close at $155, its lowest close since its initial public offering earlier in June. Monday was the stock’s third losing session in a row, after declines on the last two trading days of the previous week.

The slide got worse as the day went on. By midday the shares were down nearly 9% at about $168 after touching $165, the first time they had traded below $168 since June 12, the day they listed. At that point the stock was about 25% below its record high from the week before and only about 5% above its first-day closing price. The late-session selling erased that remaining cushion, and the $155 close put the stock roughly below where it ended its first day of trading.

The decline reverses a fast start. SpaceX shares rose sharply in their debut and ended the first day nearly 20% above the IPO price. They kept climbing early the following week, and for a short time SpaceX was worth more than Amazon. Wednesday, June 17, was the stock’s first down day as a public company, and selling continued Thursday before Monday’s drop.

Also on Monday, SpaceX announced its first bond sale. In a regulatory filing, the company said it would use the proceeds to repay all outstanding borrowings under its bridge loan facility. It did not disclose the size of the offering. SpaceX took out the bridge loan, worth up to $20 billion, earlier in the year as part of its merger with xAI, Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence startup.

Market observers have pointed to two traits that could keep the stock volatile. One is a small float, so a modest amount of buying or selling can move the price sharply. The other is a valuation based heavily on expectations for businesses that are still growing. Index inclusion could add buying pressure, since some major indexes were expected to add SpaceX as soon as Monday and funds tracking them would have to buy the shares. On the other side, lock-up agreements that keep insiders and early investors from selling are due to start expiring in the coming months. That would increase the supply of shares that can be sold.

Apogee Therapeutics Soars on AbbVie Deal

Apogee Therapeutics (APGE) jumped after agreeing to be acquired by AbbVie (ABBV). AbbVie will pay Apogee shareholders $135.11 a share, about a 50% premium to Apogee’s closing price on Thursday, June 18. The deal values Apogee at about $10.9 billion.

AbbVie CEO Robert A. Michael said Apogee’s pipeline would add clinical-stage assets to AbbVie’s immunology portfolio, including in atopic dermatitis and asthma. AbbVie described Apogee’s drug candidates for those two conditions as having “mega-blockbuster peak sales potential.”

Apogee shares rose 47% to $133 on Monday morning, putting the stock up about 75% for the year. At $133, the stock was about 1.6% below the $135.11 offer. That narrow merger arbitrage spread suggests the market expects the deal to close on its stated terms. AbbVie shares rose nearly 5% in the same session, which left the buyer’s stock down about 1% for the year.

FedEx Earnings: What Options Traders Expect

FedEx (FDX) reports earnings after the close on Tuesday, and options prices point to a large move. Based on options pricing Monday afternoon, traders expected FedEx shares to move as much as about 7% in either direction by the end of the week. With the stock near $330, a move that size would take it to a record above $352 or down below $309.

FedEx shares have risen more than 40% this year. Investors have welcomed the company’s upbeat outlook and the spin-off of FedEx Freight (FDXF), which started trading as a separate company in late May and reports its own earnings Thursday. Bank of America analysts cut their FedEx price target to $376 from $440 after the spin-off to reflect the loss of the freight business. They said investors would probably focus on where FedEx still has room to cut costs. FedEx is also searching for a new chief financial officer after John Dietrich stepped down earlier in June.

Analysts tracked by Visible Alpha expect fiscal fourth-quarter adjusted earnings of $5.90 a share, with revenue up nearly 8% from a year earlier to $23.98 billion. Of the 10 analysts with current ratings, nine rate the stock a buy and one is neutral. Their average price target of $410 is nearly 25% above Monday’s price. Because this is the first quarterly report since the spin-off, comparisons with past results need care: the remaining company no longer includes the freight business.

Bonds, Dollar, Gold and Bitcoin

Treasury yields moved up during the session. A higher 10-year yield feeds through to mortgage and other consumer loan rates. Higher long-term yields also tend to weigh on richly valued growth stocks by lowering the present value of distant earnings, which is consistent with Monday’s pressure on megacap tech.

The U.S. dollar index, which measures the dollar against a basket of major currencies, rose 0.2% to about 101. Gold futures fell about 1% to about $4,210 a troy ounce. Bitcoin traded near $64,400 in the late afternoon after rising above $65,000 earlier in the day, its highest level in nearly a week.

The Week Ahead: PCE Inflation and Earnings

The most important data release this week is the May Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) price index, due Thursday. PCE is the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation measure.

The April PCE reading showed prices up 3.8% from a year earlier. That is far above the Fed’s 2% target and the largest annual increase in about three years. The May figure will be the first major inflation report since last week’s Fed meeting, when officials’ projections showed a median expectation of one quarter-point increase in the benchmark rate before 2027. The federal funds rate has not changed since December. Officials have signaled they are open to raising rates this year, so investors are likely to watch the next several inflation reports closely. A hot reading would support the case for a hike, and a cooler one could ease that pressure.

Micron reports Wednesday after the close, between FedEx on Tuesday and FedEx Freight on Thursday. Because PCE and FedEx Freight’s results both arrive Thursday, macro data and company news could move prices at the same time. That can make it harder to tell which one drove a given move.

Alan Greenspan Dies at 100

Alan Greenspan, who chaired the Federal Reserve for 18 years, has died at 100. His wife, NBC News correspondent Andrea Mitchell, announced his death on Monday.

President Ronald Reagan appointed Greenspan, and he took over from Paul Volcker in August 1987. Two months later, on Black Monday, October 19, 1987, the Dow fell more than 22% in one session, which is still its largest one-day percentage drop. The Fed’s statement the next morning that it stood ready to provide liquidity became an early example of his crisis management. He was reappointed by presidents of both parties and served until January 2006, when Ben Bernanke succeeded him.

Greenspan had a strong influence on the Fed’s approach to monetary policy and was known for putting the fight against inflation first. His supporters called him “The Maestro” and credited him with steering the economy through the Great Moderation. His warning about “irrational exuberance” in a December 1996 speech became one of the most quoted lines in market history. His critics blame his support for deregulated markets and his long periods of low interest rates for contributing to the housing bubble and the financial collapse that came after he left office.

The Fed responded in a statement. It said Greenspan had led the central bank through both strong economic expansions and periods of considerable stress, and credited his leadership with a sustained era of price stability that supported growth and helped anchor public confidence in the institution. His death came during a week when the Fed’s commitment to price stability is once again central to market pricing.

Paying for a House With OpenAI or Anthropic Shares

One unusual result of the IPO boom is a growing number of home listings that ask for payment in private-company stock instead of cash. A South Florida family listing a $2.6 million waterfront home said it would seriously consider shares of OpenAI, Anthropic or SpaceX. Similar listings have appeared in other parts of the country, and some sellers have reported many offers within days.

Real estate attorneys say nothing requires a home sale to be paid in cash. A purchase contract is mostly a private agreement between buyer and seller, so shares can serve as consideration, the legal term for what each side gives up, as long as both parties accept the terms. The deal can be set up as a direct exchange: the seller transfers the deed and receives the shares, and the buyer takes title to the property.

The hard part is valuation. Publicly traded shares have a price that moves, so both parties have to agree on a date or formula that fixes their value for the deal. Private shares such as OpenAI’s and Anthropic’s have no quoted price. Their value must be estimated from funding rounds, secondary-market transactions, comparable public companies and projected cash flows, and each method can give a different answer.

Timing adds a second layer of risk, because the shares’ value can change a lot between signing and closing. Attorneys advise that the contract spell out how and when the shares will be valued, include a repricing formula, and add contingencies for material changes. Many private companies also limit who can own or transfer their stock. A seller would also hold an asset that cannot be sold on an exchange until a liquidity event such as an IPO or a tender offer, which may never come on the seller’s timeline.