US Stock Market Close: The "Magnificent Seven" Stocks Generally Cool Down, Nasdaq Ends Six-Day Winning Streak, S&P 500 Rises for Fourth Consecutive Day

On Thursday (May 15), the three major US stock indices had mixed performances, with the Dow and S&P 500 closing higher. The S&P 500 extended its gains for a fourth consecutive day, while the Nasdaq ended its six-day winning streak.

At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.65% to 42,322.75; the S&P 500 gained 0.41% to 5,916.93, its highest closing price since March 3; and the Nasdaq Composite Index fell 0.18% to 19,112.32.

Among the Dow components, there were 23 advancers and 7 decliners. Recently strong performers such as Amazon, Apple, and Nvidia pulled back, while healthcare and consumer stocks strengthened. Amgen rose 3.59%, Coca-Cola gained 3.54%, and Cisco, which reported positive earnings, surged 4.85%.

Analysts noted that the S&P 500 has continued its upward trend since key consensus was reached in high-level China-US economic and trade talks. Meanwhile, the yield on the 10-year US Treasury note fell approximately 10 basis points during the day, providing a tailwind for the stock market.

Recent economic data has fueled market speculation that the US Fed will implement two cumulative interest rate cuts this year to prevent a US economic recession. Tuesday's CPI and core CPI figures recorded their lowest YoY increases in four years, and the pre-market PPI also fell short of market expectations.

Earlier in the day, Trump stated in Doha, the capital of Qatar, that Iran had agreed to some conditions, and he would urge Iran to reach an agreement without obtaining nuclear weapons. This news sent oil prices plummeting and is expected to help reduce US inflation.

Joe Cusick, Senior Vice President and Portfolio Specialist at Calamos Investments, commented, "As recession fears begin to fade, the stock market is showing potential strength, and market sentiment has shifted to cautious optimism, or perhaps moderate optimism."

However, Cusick also pointed out, "A series of macro and micro risks still form a 'wall of worry' that investors must navigate. The next phase of the market's direction will depend on whether the current rally can expand and persist into the summer or shift toward consolidation or a pullback."

Lamar Villere, Portfolio Manager at Villere & Co., said, "I don't want to sound overly excited, but we can indeed focus on company fundamentals this summer. If you had told me a month ago that stock prices would rise, I would have called you a liar."

Performance of Popular Stocks

Large-cap tech stocks generally pulled back. (Ranked by market capitalization) Microsoft rose 0.23%, Nvidia fell 0.38%, Apple dropped 0.41%, Amazon declined 2.42%, Alphabet Class C fell 0.85%, Meta dropped 2.35%, Tesla fell 1.4%, and Broadcom gained 0.22%.

Among Chinese ADRs, the Nasdaq Golden Dragon China Index fell 2.37%.

Most popular Chinese ADRs closed lower, with Alibaba down 7.57%, JD.com down 3.86%, Tencent Music down 3.71%, Baidu down 3.58%, NIO down 3.39%, New Oriental down 2.61%, XPeng Motors down 1.39%, Pinduoduo down 0.88%, Li Auto down 0.59%, and TAL Education down 0.2%.

NetEase rose 14.61%, with its closing price approaching the previous high; Miniso Group rose 4.27%, and CHAGEE rose 3.7%.

Company News

[Meta reportedly delays launch of flagship AI model "Behemoth"]

Sources familiar with the matter said Meta Platforms will delay the launch of its flagship AI model, sparking internal concerns about the direction of its tens of billions of dollars in AI investments. According to sources, engineers are struggling to enhance the performance of the large language model named "Behemoth," with employees questioning whether the improvements are sufficient to support a public launch. The model was originally scheduled to debut at Meta's first AI Developer Conference in April, but was postponed to June and is now delayed again until autumn or later.

[Verizon to invest $5 billion in US small business suppliers]

US telecommunications operator Verizon has launched the "Small Business Supplier Accelerator." Over the next five years, the company will invest $5 billion in US small business suppliers.

[Qualcomm unveils fourth-generation Snapdragon 7 Mobile Platform]

Qualcomm has unveiled the fourth-generation Snapdragon 7 Mobile Platform, which achieves comprehensive performance upgrades, including a 27% improvement in CPU performance, a 30% increase in GPU graphics rendering speed, and a 65% boost in AI performance compared to the previous generation platform.

[Coinbase says customer data stolen, rejects $20 million hacker ransom]

US cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase said on Thursday that hackers had stolen customer data and demanded $20 million to prevent public disclosure. Coinbase said the hackers' demand was made on Monday. In a statement, the company said the hackers aimed to compile a list of contactable customers while posing as Coinbase to deceive them into surrendering cryptocurrency. Coinbase rejected the hackers' $20 million ransom demand. The company also said it would compensate customers who were tricked into sending money to the attackers, with compensation amounts potentially ranging from 180 million to 400 million yuan.

[Buffett significantly sells bank stocks in Q1, maintains Apple position unchanged]

Berkshire Hathaway, led by Warren Buffett, released its first-quarter (13F) holdings report as of March 31 this year, showing that it had liquidated its positions in Citigroup (14.63 million shares) and financial company Nu Holdings, reduced its stake in Bank of America (48.66 million shares), and maintained its position in Apple (300 million shares) unchanged. In terms of increases, it bought 6.38 million shares of Constellation Brands, a liquor company, representing a significant 113.5% increase, added 760,000 shares of Occidental Petroleum, and increased its stake in Pool Corp, a pool supplies company, by 860,000 shares. It is worth mentioning that Berkshire Hathaway did not establish any new stock positions in Q1.

[Soros' Son's Hedge Fund Re-enters Chinese Assets, Three Chinese Targets Rank Among Top Ten Holdings]

The 13F report of Soros Capital Management LLC shows that the hedge fund founded by Robert Soros, the son of George Soros, repositioned its Chinese assets in the first quarter. The newly established positions include Alibaba, Yum China, and the iShares China Large-Cap ETF (FXI). The positions in FXI, Yum China, and Alibaba ranked 5th, 7th, and 8th, respectively.

[HHLR, Under Hillhouse Capital, Increases Chinese Asset Holdings in Q1, Adds and Raises Stakes in Multiple China Concept Stocks]

HHLR Advisors, an independent fund management platform under Hillhouse Capital focused on secondary market investments, disclosed its U.S. stock holding data as of the end of Q1 2025. The 13F filing shows that HHLR's total market value of holdings increased from $2.887 billion at the end of the previous quarter to $3.539 billion in Q1, an increase of nearly 23%. The data indicates that HHLR continued to increase its allocation to Chinese assets in Q1, adding and raising stakes in nearly 20 China concept stocks, including 10 companies newly purchased such as Atour Lifestyle Holdings, Huazhu Group, Baidu, Yuchai International, Li Auto, BOSS Zhipin, and ECARX, as well as 8 companies with increased stakes such as Futu Holdings, Pinduoduo, NetEase, KE Holdings, JD.com, Trip.com Group, and ZTO Express. As of the end of Q1 2025, HHLR's top ten largest holdings were: Pinduoduo, Alibaba, Futu Holdings, BeiGene, NetEase, KE Holdings, Legend Biotech, JD.com, Vipshop, and WNS HLDGS LTD, with China concept stocks accounting for nine positions. HHLR reduced its stakes in companies such as Alibaba and BeiGene in Q1.