Wall Street mixed as oil prices slide on Iran deal hopes, Micron surges 5.6%, GlobalFoundries falls 9%

Major US stock indices were mixed on Wednesday amid artificial intelligence enthusiasm and as oil prices fell after Iranian comments on the Middle East war.

As of 12:56 p.m. Eastern Time, the S&P 500 slipped 0.1%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.4%, and the Nasdaq Composite was 0.1% lower.

As of 10:30 a.m. Eastern Time, the S&P 500 was virtually unchanged, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.7%, and the Nasdaq Composite was 0.2% lower.

At the opening bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 25.5 points, or 0.05%, to 50,487.16. The S&P 500 rose 6.9 points, or 0.09%, to 7,526.01, while the Nasdaq Composite rose 39.3 points, or 0.15%, to 26,695.442.

Crude oil values plummeted sharply following statements from Iran's Revolutionary Guards indicating that a renewed conflict with the United States remained improbable.

Regardless of Tehran's remarks, the ongoing near-closure of the strategic Strait of Hormuz remains unresolved, a crisis that has drastically inflated energy prices since the US-Israeli military campaign against Iran commenced.

In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury slipped to 4.47% from 4.50% late on Tuesday.

Key Stock Movers

Micron shares surged 5.6%, extending gains after breaching a historic $1 trillion market capitalization on Tuesday due to intense investor enthusiasm surrounding its artificial intelligence capabilities.

Peer chipmakers Western Digital and Seagate Technology surged 2.5% and 3.2%, respectively.

Bath & Body Works equity rallied 16.5% after the retailer reported first quarter sales and profit better than expected.

Lululemon Athletica shares advanced 6.6% after the firm reached a deal with its founder, Chip Wilson, where it will add a former chief marketing officer of ESPN and a former co-CEO of On to its board of directors.

Oil and gas stocks dropped on falling energy prices. Exxon Mobil lost 2.2%, and Chevron fell 1.5%.

GlobalFoundries stock fell 9% after Bloomberg News reported that majority owner Mubadala Investment was seeking to raise $1.91 billion from an unregistered block sale of its shares.

Bullion

Gold prices dropped on Wednesday, weighed down by prospects of stricter central bank policy to combat accelerating inflation.

As of 10:30 a.m. EDT (1430 GMT), spot gold was down 1.4% at $4,444.64 per ounce. US gold futures for June delivery fell 1.2% to $4,445.20.

Among other metals, spot silver fell 2.8% to $74.82 per ounce. Platinum slid 2% to $1,919.30, and palladium was up 0.4% at $1,384.86.

"While a rally in gold could once again boost silver above $100/oz in the coming months, we do not see silver outpacing on a sustained basis due to easing fundamental demand," Bank of America wrote in a note on Tuesday.

Crude Oil

Both Brent crude futures, the international benchmark, and the US West Texas Intermediate contract were down around 4%.

Brent North Sea Crude fell 3.8% at $95.84 a barrel. West Texas Intermediate lost 4.6% at $59.59 a barrel.