US Stocks Diverge as Nasdaq Hits Record High, Dow Drops Nearly 200 Points; Memory Stocks Lead Gains, Micron Rises 5%

TradingKey - U.S. President Trump said U.S. officials met with an Iranian delegation, and falling oil prices lifted stocks, sending the Nasdaq Composite Index to an all-time high. Memory stocks led the gains, while bank stocks fell.

At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.36% to 51,863.69; the Nasdaq Composite Index rose 0.45% to 27,244.28; and the S&P 500 Index was virtually flat at 7,764.64.

Tech Stock Performance

SanDisk (SNDK) rose 6.82% to $1,887.04.

BofA Securities analyst Simon Woo released a new memory industry research report, stating that channel checks confirm average DRAM prices rose 20%-30% quarter-over-quarter in Q3 2026, while NAND prices climbed over 15%. Additionally, hyperscale cloud providers have signed early contracts to lock in higher DRAM prices for Q1 2027.

Among mega-cap tech stocks, SpaceX (SPCX) rose 1.89%, TSMC (TSM) gained 1.54%, Tesla (TSLA) advanced 0.96%, Nvidia (NVDA) added 0.66%, Broadcom (AVGO) rose 0.52%, and Apple (AAPL) ticked up 0.23%; as for decliners, Amazon (AMZN) fell 1.34%, Google (GOOGL) dropped 1.05%, Microsoft (MSFT) slipped 0.72%, and Meta Platforms (META) declined 0.63%.

[Source: FutuBull]

The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index rose 2.06% to 12,689.82. Among its 30 constituents, 27 advanced and 3 declined.

Among memory stocks, SanDisk (SNDK) rose 6.82%, Micron Technology (MU) gained 5.00%, Seagate Technology (STX) climbed 4.85%, Western Digital (WDC) rose 3.67%, and SK Hynix (SKHY) added 3.45%.

Company News

SpaceX AI's Grok Bot Agent Surpasses 400,000 Weekly Users in First Month

SpaceX AI's Grok Bot artificial intelligence agent surpassed 400,000 weekly active users about a month after its launch, a figure indicating modest initial market demand for the product. On-site presentation materials showed that as of September 14, Grok Bot's user count reached 418,000, up 24% from the prior week. SpaceX's artificial intelligence division launched Grok Bot in mid-August to address growing competition in the AI agent market and catch up with Anthropic PBC and OpenAI. Grok Bot is designed to function more like a 24/7 employee rather than a chatbot.

Anthropic Announces Launch of Claude Opus 5.5

Anthropic announced the launch of Claude Opus 5.5, highlighting three main features: stronger capabilities in handling complex tasks, lower operational costs, and safer usage. Compared with Opus 5, its typical task cost has dropped by 40%, and output speed has increased by over 30%; prices for input, output, and cache reading have also been reduced across the board.

OpenAI Launches GPT-6 Sol and GPT-6 Luna, Cutting API Prices to Half of GPT-5.6 Promotional Rate

OpenAI introduced GPT-6 Sol and GPT-6 Luna with a direct objective: making the GPT-6 series affordable to more users. While GPT-6 Astra remains the highest-performing model, Sol and Luna offer lower prices to handle everyday office work, programming, and computer operation tasks. OpenAI stated that the new models focus on optimizing speed and cost, reducing API prices to half of GPT-5.6's promotional rate.

Industry & Macro News

Trump: Negotiations with Iran Ongoing, Deal May Be Reached

U.S. President Donald Trump said that Iran and the United States held talks on Tuesday and that he believes the two countries will eventually reach a deal. Speaking after a meeting with British Prime Minister Burnham on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York, Trump said, "I think a deal will be made. They want to talk to us. They've been talking to us, even today, and things are developing." He added, "But we cannot allow them to have nuclear weapons, and they understand that as well."

Richmond Fed President Barkin: It Will Take Time for Inflation Pressures to Subside

Tom Barkin, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, warned that the current inflation shock may take some time to dissipate, and that persistently high price pressures risk becoming embedded into long-term inflation. He stated that the Federal Reserve's rate hike last week would help bring down inflation, but gave no clear signal on whether further policy tightening would be required. He noted that supply shocks are no longer one-off or transitory, and price pressures are persisting throughout the economy. "These shocks may fade over time, but I do expect it to take time," Barkin said. "In the meantime, there is a risk that currently elevated inflation levels will impact future inflation."