Equity ETFs SPY, DIA Close Higher After NVDA Reverses

U.S. stocks closed higher after meandering for much Wednesday thanks to a late flurry of buying that pushed the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) into the green for the day.

SPY finished with a 0.12% gain thanks to a reversal in market leader Nvidia. The AI giant finished higher by 0.25% after falling by as much as 2.8% midday.

The tech-heavy Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) ended the session up by 0.21% thanks to a 3.9% surge in shares of Amazon and a 2% bump in Apple stock.

Memory chip maker Micron Technology reports earnings after the bell. Its results will be watched closely for clues on how the AI boom is progressing.

Broad bond ETFs decline accelerated. The iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF (TLT) lost 1.4% and the Vanguard Total Bond Market ETF (BND) shed 0.5%, suggesting uncertainty about the U.S. presidential elections ahead of Thursday's Trump/Biden debate.

BND 1-Month Price

Broad market ETFs gyrated from green to red and back, as investors waited on news from Nvidia Corp.'s shareholder meeting and Chipotle Mexican Grill's 50-for-1 stock split took effect.

The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) copied the S&P 500, which reversed from negative to positive at least twice today and was little changed as of mid-afternoon. The SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF Trust (DIA) also crossed into positive territory and as 0.1% higher.

The Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) which follows the 100 biggest stocks in the Nasdaq, swung several times between negative and positive and was also little changed. The Technology Select Sector SPDR (XLK) Fund was only slightly less volatile and after the morning's gains appears to be solidly lower.

Nvidia was down more than 2% as its annual shareholder meeting wrapped up. It has dropped in 4 of the past 5 trading sessions.

A few weeks after Nvidia's 10-for-1 stock split, the market digested a much wider split from Chipotle. The split brought the stock to about $65, from more than $3,000. It was little changed today. Chipotle stock is held by 255 exchange-traded funds, as tracked by etf.com.

Broad bond ETFs dipped, with the iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF (TLT) losing 1.1% and the SPDR Bloomberg 1-3 Month T-Bill ETF (BIL) dipping 0.3%, suggesting uncertainty about the U.S. presidential elections ahead of Thursday's Trump/Biden debate.

The S&P 500 and Dow slipped in early trading on Wednesday—while tech ETFs clawed their way back—ahead of Friday's personal consumption expenditures index (PCE) release. 

SPY, the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust dropped less than a tenth of a percentage point while DIA, the SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF Trust fell close to 0.4%.

QQQ, the Invesco QQQ Trust which closely follows the tech-heavy Nasdaq, added nearly a full percentage point while XLK, the Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund added 0.1% 

Tech ETFs have struggled this week as chipmaker Nvidia, which today holds its annual shareholder meeting, stumbled to end the first half of the year. The stock is held by more than 500 ETFs, with major allocations in semiconductor ETFs USD, the ProShares Ultra Semiconductors and SHOC, the Strive U.S. Semiconductor ETF. USD dropped 0.3% in early trading while SHOC reversed an earlier decline to inch less than a percentage point higher. 

SEC Chair Gary Gensler Speaks on Ether ETFs

Crypto investors were given further clues about the approval of spot ethereum ETFs from SEC Chair Gary Gensler on Tuesday. Speaking at the Bloomberg Invest Summit Gensler said that he didn't know the "timing" of spot ether approvals but that the applications process was "going smoothly."

When pressed if the timing would happen prior to the presidential elections in November, Gensler refused to answer, reiterating that the agency needed all proper disclosures from crypto companies so that registration statements could be effective.

Gensler has previously stated that spot ether ETF debut hinges on fast replies from issuers. For many observers, approvals of the ETFs are expected by the end of June.