Wall Street yo-yos as AI stocks swing from gains to losses

NEW YORK (AP) — The U.S. stock market is yo-yoing on Tuesday as artificial-intelligence stocks keep swinging following their sudden and sharp losses from last week.

The S&P 500 fell 0.2% after bouncing between an early gain of 1% and a midmorning drop of 0.6%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 162 points, or 0.3%, as of 11 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.6% lower.

Indexes pulled lower as companies selling computer chips, memory and other building blocks of the AI boom broke from early gains to losses. Micron Technology, for example, went from an early jump of 4.2% to a drop of 1.9%. That's a day after it jumped 9.9% and two days after it plunged 13.3%.

The computer memory company’s stock has already tripled so far this year, raising criticism that it’s gone too far, too fast. Following last week’s industrywide sell-off, the question is whether AI stocks are heading for a long downturn or just needed a shake-out to get rid of excessive optimism.

The biggest gain in the S&P 500 came from J.M. Smucker, which jumped 12.3% after reporting a stronger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected.

The company behind the Folgers, Hostess and other brands benefited from higher prices charged for coffee and sweet baked goods. It joined the long list of U.S. companies delivering stronger profit growth than analysts expected, which has helped drive the S&P 500 to record after record this year.

United Natural Foods dropped 13.5% after reporting weaker revenue for the latest quarter than analysts expected.

Nuvalent soared 38.8% after GSK agreed to buy the biotech company for $10.6 billion. The shares of U.K.-based GSK that trade in New York added 1%.

Wall Street, meanwhile, got some relief from falling oil prices. The price for a barrel of Brent crude oil dropped 3% to $91.40 after briefly topping $98 the day before.

Oil prices have swung up and down as hopes fade and rise that the United States and Iran can reach a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. That would allow oil tankers to resume delivering crude from the Persian Gulf to customers.

The drop in oil prices helped stocks of airlines, which have been punished by soaring fuel costs. U.S. airlines spent more than $6 billion on jet fuel in April, up 78% from a year earlier, according to government data. United Airlines rose 3%, and American Airlines climbed 3.9%.

To make up for their higher fuel bills, airlines have been raising their own airfares. It’s part of the broad, painful acceleration of inflation hitting U.S. shoppers because of the war with Iran. The high oil prices are also pushing up bond yields worldwide, raising the pressure on stock prices.

Treasury yields eased a bit Tuesday with the fade in oil prices. The yield on the 10-year Treasury dipped to 4.54% from 4.56% late Monday. But it’s still well above its 3.97% level from just before the war with Iran.

The latest monthly updates on U.S. inflation will arrive later in the week, with one on consumer prices coming Wednesday and one on wholesale prices coming Thursday.

Inflation is high enough, and the U.S. job market looks strong enough, that traders on Wall Street largely expect the Federal Reserve will have to raise its main interest rate at least once by the end of this year. Higher interest rates would keep a lid on inflation, but they would also threaten to slow economies and undercut prices for stocks and all kinds of other investments.

The average long-term U.S. mortgage rate has already recently climbed to its highest level in nine months, and high costs to borrow money could discourage the building of AI data centers that are fueling the U.S. economy's growth.

In stock markets abroad, indexes rose in much of Europe following bigger moves in Asia.

South Korea’s Kospi jumped 8.2% and nearly recovered Monday’s plunge of 8.3%. It’s been beholden to the performance of big tech stocks like SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics.

AP Business Writers Matt Ott and Elaine Kurtenbach contributed to this report.

Options trader Chris Daytona, right, works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Wednesday, June 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Trader John Romolo works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Wednesday, June 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Trader John Bowers works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Wednesday, June 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

A board above the trading floor of the New York Stock Exchange displays the closing number for the Dow Jones industrial average, Wednesday, June 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

A dealer stands near the screens showing the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won at a dealing room of Hana Bank in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, June 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

People stand near the screens showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won at a dealing room of Hana Bank in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, June 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

A dealer talks near the screens showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won at a dealing room of Hana Bank in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, June 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

A dealer stands near the screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) at a dealing room of Hana Bank in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, June 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

Voters across Maine, Nevada, South Carolina and North Dakota will cast their ballots Tuesday in another day of primary elections in America, but much of the political world will be focused on Maine’s high-stakes U.S. Senate contest.

The results aren't in question. Neither Republican incumbent Sen. Susan Collins nor Democratic challenger Graham Platner faces serious opposition for their party’s nomination. And yet Tuesday marks an especially significant moment for Platner, the embattled veteran and oyster farmer, who's fighting to rebuild his credibility in a campaign rocked by controversy.

Elsewhere, President Donald Trump’s clout within his party will be tested anew in states like South Carolina and Nevada, where he’s endorsed his favored candidates. Democrats hope to build momentum in Nevada in their broader push to reclaim key governor’s seats.

Here's the latest:

Washoe County Commissioner Alexis Hill faces state Attorney General Aaron Ford, whose fundraising has dwarfed hers —$2.3 million compared to Hill’s $100,000. He also has the support of the entire Democratic congressional delegation and former Vice President Kamala Harris.

Hill, a local official in the county that includes Reno, has run a grassroots campaign, promising to shake up the status quo in the Democratic Party. Ford has largely ignored her, fixing his sights on the November election.

The winner will most likely face Republican Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo, who's running for reelection.

Brenda Wood said she voted for Republicans in the primary because she doesn’t believe Platner’s campaign promises and expressed dissatisfaction with his party generally.

“I think the Democrats have been a disgrace to Maine for years,” she said.

Annette Babcock, also from Sullivan, said she supported Platner, whom she said she’s met a few times and likes because he’s not an established politician.

She did not sound concerned over recent controversies surrounding his campaign.

“The Republicans don’t have much moral high ground to stand on when they’re criticizing him for what he’s done when Trump is a convicted felon,” she said.

The road for the Democrats to take back the U.S. Senate goes through Maine. That road starts today.

The Democratic Party needs to net four seats to retake the Senate majority, and thinks some of its best chances are in states like Maine, North Carolina, Alaska and Ohio. The party is set to officially pick its nominee in Maine on Tuesday.

Oyster farmer and combat veteran Graham Platner is the party’s presumptive nominee because his main rival, Democratic Gov. Janet Mills, suspended her campaign weeks ago. Mills remains on the ballot. David Costello, who hasn't campaigned aggressively, is also on the ballot.

After voting at her precinct in Taylors on Tuesday, South Carolina Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette said she was confident about how her campaign for governor had gone.

But if she doesn’t win the primary outright and has to campaign for two more weeks in a runoff, the Republican said she’d work hard to win over voters who didn’t initially support her.

President Donald Trump is backing Evette’s bid and the candidate said that, while she thinks that will help her in this “proud Trump state,” she’ll focus primarily on her own stances, like cutting taxes and regulations.

Platner’s campaign has spent months navigating controversies about a tattoo of a Nazi symbol that he had covered up and his history of inflammatory online postings.

Platner has said he was drunk on leave with some fellow Marines many years ago when he got a skull and crossbones tattoo on his chest. He had it covered up last year after saying he learned that it was a Nazi image.

There has also been much attention on his former social media and Reddit posts, which were dismissive of military sexual assaults, insulting of police and rural residents and used homophobic slurs, for which he's apologized.

Nevada’s primary will give an indication of the influence the president maintains in the battleground state.

In 2024, Trump became the first Republican presidential candidate in 20 years to win Nevada. For Tuesday’s primary, he's backed candidates in three of the state’s four congressional races:

Trump has a string of victories for his endorsed candidates so far this primary season. That includes those he endorsed in an effort to take down Republicans he deemed insufficiently loyal.

The GOP primary for the 2nd District appears to be the most contentious. Trump’s endorsed candidate faces James Settelmeyer, a rancher with a long political resume who has the backing of Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo and the retiring incumbent.

Trump’s endorsement is a powerful factor in a state where Republicans dominate politics.

U.S. Reps. Nancy Mace and Ralph Norman, state Attorney General Alan Wilson and Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette all showcased their proximity to the president. Mace worked for his 2016 campaign, Norman votes with him in the House, Wilson traveled to New York City when Trump was on trial, and Evette hired one of his advisers for her campaign.

In the end, Trump endorsed Evette in the primary’s closing days, also saying on social media that “A BIG added plus” was that Henry McMaster Jr. — the sitting governor’s son — could be Evette’s running mate.

McMaster is close to Trump, backing him in 2016 when much of the Republican establishment was hesitant to embrace the New York businessman and reality television star. So when McMaster endorsed Evette in February, it was a sign that Trump’s support could be on the way.

Many Maine Democrats are voting to pick a candidate for the 2nd District, which Republicans see as a key chance to pick up a seat in the narrowly divided chamber.

Incumbent Rep. Jared Golden, a Democrat, is not seeking reelection. The 2nd District includes much of rural Maine and Trump has had great success there at the top of the ticket in the last three presidential elections.

The Republicans’ presumptive nominee is former Gov. Paul LePage. Democrats will choose between former Maine Secretary of State Matt Dunlap; state Sen. Joe Baldacci; former U.S. Senate candidate Jordan Wood; and social worker Paige Loud.

The Nevada Secretary of State’s Office has launched a website designed to provide transparency around mail ballots.

The website shows how many were mailed, returned and accepted. It also notes the number requiring fixes by voters. Nevada mails a ballot to every registered voter unless a voter opts out.

It’s one of several swing states where Trump disputed his loss in 2020 with false claims of fraud. The secretary of state at the time, a Republican, investigated various claims and found no evidence of any widespread fraud. Trump also has repeatedly attacked the use of mail ballots generally.

Secretary of State Cisco Aguilar, a Democrat, said he created the website to increase transparency around Nevada’s elections and provide a way for voters to see in real-time how many ballots are outstanding.

Lindsay Robinson, with daughter Scottie, walks to cast her ballots in the Maine Primary, Tuesday, June 9, 2026, in Augusta, Maine. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

Mary Saunders looks over her choices one last time before casting her ballots in the Maine Primary, Tuesday, June 9, 2026, in Augusta, Maine. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)