US stocks: tech rebounds, Alphabet joins Dow, June 29, 2026
June 29, 2026
Wall Street starts the final session of June needing a breather. After a brutal week for semiconductors, US futures are bouncing and Alphabet joins the Dow Jones. The truce between the United States and Iran brings back some appetite for risk, yet fear remains the dominant emotion.
A black week for chips
The Nasdaq Composite strung together five losing sessions and shed 4.6% on the week, its worst run in months. The trouble sits with semiconductors. On Friday the Philadelphia SOXX index plunged 10% in a single session. Nvidia wiped out more than 300 billion dollars in market value, Broadcom fell 12.6% and Marvell 17%. Investors are rattled by the soaring cost of artificial intelligence infrastructure. Yet neither Nvidia nor AMD missed on their latest results. "I still think that we're in buy dip mode," says Goldman Sachs strategist John Flood, who sees these pullbacks as solid buying opportunities even as volatility lingers.
Alphabet joins the Dow, Verizon leaves
The shift is historic. Alphabet replaces Verizon in the Dow Jones on Monday, ending the telecom operator's twenty-two-year run. S&P Dow Jones Indices points to Alphabet's scale and its share price near 350 dollars, against 45 for Verizon. Because the index is price-weighted, a pricier stock carries far more sway. The upshot: six of the Dow's thirty members are now tech heavyweights, a concentration never seen in 130 years. Critics argue the benchmark looks less and less representative of the broader economy.
Risk returns, fear holds
US futures point higher this morning: S&P 500 +0.6%, Nasdaq 100 +0.7%, Dow +0.3%. The truce between Washington and Tehran, despite US strikes over the weekend, is pulling investors back toward risk assets. The VIX eases toward 18.4. But CNN's Fear & Greed Index stays pinned at 25, deep in fear territory, after a fourth straight weekly drop in gold. The dollar holds firm against the euro near 1.17 and climbs to almost 162 yen, supported by the Fed's hawkish tone.
Gold, oil and crypto under pressure
Gold recovers to 4,063 dollars an ounce (+0.7%) after four weeks of declines, still weighed down by a strong dollar. WTI crude holds around 70 dollars, hostage to how well the Strait of Hormuz truce holds. In crypto, bitcoin trades near 60,000 dollars, its lowest in months, hurt by capital outflows and a rotation into AI names. To track these levels daily, our market page stays the go-to.
Key levels today
| Instrument | Level / Price | Change | Watch for |
|---|---|---|---|
| S&P 500 (June 26 close) | 7,354 | -0.05% | Holding 7,300 |
| Nasdaq Composite | 25,298 | -0.24% | Rebound after five drops |
| Dow Jones | 51,876 | -0.09% | Alphabet's first session |
| VIX | 18.41 | -2.54% | Move back below 18 |
| Gold (XAU/USD) | $4,063 | +0.72% | Fourth weekly decline |
Economic calendar
Wednesday July 1, Fed Chair Kevin Warsh speaks at the ECB forum in Sintra (3:30 pm Paris time). Thursday July 2, the US June jobs report arrives a day early ahead of the July 4 holiday, with a consensus of 172,000 new jobs (2:30 pm Paris time). Friday July 3, Wall Street is closed.
The bottom line
Wall Street is trying to rebound from the chip selloff, lifted by the Iran truce and Alphabet's Dow debut. Fear stays elevated ahead of Thursday's US jobs report.
This is not investment advice.