The Nasdaq and S&P 500 closed lower on Wednesday, dragged by tech stocks on nagging concerns about high-flying valuations, but falling crude prices boosted airlines and other travel stocks and the Dow finished higher.

Oil prices fell to their lowest since the start of the Iran war as more tankers were expected to move out of the Strait of Hormuz. US President Donald Trump said Iran had told Washington that no tolls were being sought.

The S&P 500 passenger airlines index gained 5.2 percent while travel companies Expedia Group and Booking Holdings both rose.

Tech stocks slipped, intensifying the focus on chipmaker Micron Technology's earnings that landed after the bell.

The stock has surged more than 200 percent in 2026 but closed on Wednesday down 0.3 percent. It jumped in extended trading after quarterly revenue and fourth quarter forecasts beat Wall Street estimates.

Cerebras Systems tumbled 19.6 percent after the chip designer forecast full-year profit margins would drop below first-quarter figures in its debut report after going public.

Also weighing on the stock, OpenAI announced its own in-house inference chip called Jalapeño.

Concerns around debt-backed spending by hyperscalers and mounting fears of a more hawkish US Federal Reserve have fuelled the market downturn this week that has erased more than US$1 trillion in market value from the Nasdaq 100.

"The Middle East conversation is wrapping up ... energy prices are coming off," said Michael Monaghan, partner and portfolio manager at Founder ETFs. "But you continue to have the AI CapEx buildout where, for some reason, people like the recipients of the spend and have been punishing those doing the spending."

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 182 points, or 0.4 percent, to 51,848, the S&P 500 lost 7 points, or 0.1 percent, to 7,358 and the Nasdaq Composite lost 110 points, or 0.4 percent, to 25,476.

Homebuilders soared after Trump cancelled a planned signing of bipartisan legislation aimed at speeding up availability of affordable housing.

Hovnanian Enterprises jumped 11.3 percent. PulteGroup surged 7.2 percent and Toll Brothers rose 6.7 percent. (Reuters)



Edited by Cecil Wong