Micron and NVIDIA lift US equities ahead of Q3 GDP data
Wall Street ends higher on Micron-led tech rally
United States (US) equity markets closed higher on Friday, led by a rebound in technology stocks after strong earnings from Micron Technology helped ease concerns around lofty valuations and high debt levels within the artificial intelligence (AI) complex. For the week, the Nasdaq 100 gained 0.59% and the S&P 500 edged 0.10% higher, while the Dow Jones lost 323 points (-0.67%).
Building on Thursday’s 10.2% gain, Micron Technology finished 7% higher on Friday at $265.92, after the company delivered better-than-expected earnings alongside a strong outlook. Elsewhere, NVIDIA rose 3.93% to $180, extending its rebound from critical support at $170 as the US launched a review that could allow the sale of advanced AI chips to China.
Oracle jumped 6.35% to $191.92 after TikTok’s Chinese owner, ByteDance, signed a binding agreement to hand control of the app’s US operations to a group of investors, including the cloud computing giant. In contrast, Nike slumped 10.54% to $58.71 after revealing a sharp decline in China sales, a contraction in gross margins, and weaker-than-expected guidance for the third quarter (Q3).
The focus in a holiday-shortened week will be on the second estimate of Q3 US gross domestic product (GDP).
Q3 GDP second estimate
Date: Wednesday, 24 December at 12.30am AEDT
The US economy rebounded strongly in the second quarter (Q2) 2025, with real GDP growing at an annualised 3.8% according to the final (third) estimate from the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA).
This marked a sharp turnaround from the -0.6% contraction in the first quarter (Q1), driven primarily by surging consumer spending, robust business investment (particularly AI-related), and a significant drop in imports, which boosted net exports.
Due to the federal government shutdown, the BEA cancelled the advance estimate for Q3 and will combine it with the second estimate this week – effectively serving as the first official print.
Market expectations for this ‘second’ estimate centre on a modest moderation from Q2’s brisk pace. Consensus forecasts are around 3.2%, not far below the Atlanta Federal Reserve (Fed) GDPNow model, which is tracking at 3.5% as of 16 December. A print above 3.0% will confirm that the US economy was on solid footing before the government shutdown began on 1 October.
The US interest rates market starts the week pricing in roughly 16.5 basis points (bp) of cuts for the March Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting, with about 60 bp embedded between now and the end of 2026.