Leading technology stocks led an eye-popping rebound rally over the past five days, driving a key exchange-traded fund to one of its best weeks in years. The Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLK) surged 8.2% this week, the most since Nov. 11, 2022, when the fund gained 10.04%. That was the same month the artificial intelligence chatbot ChatGPT was first introduced to the public. XLK YTD mountain Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLK) performance this year. Investors can thank a bounce back in megacap technology and semiconductor stocks this week that lifted all three major U.S. stock indexes. Office and Windows maker Microsoft and artificial intelligence chipmaker Nvidia , the top two stocks in XLK, ended the week roughly 7.2% and 15.8% higher, respectively. Nvidia’s shares popped, sparking a market turnaround after volatile trading midweek, when CEO Jensen Huang touted enormous demand for its Blackwell chip at the Goldman Sachs Communacopia + Technology Conference. Apple , which announced new versions of the iPhone, AirPods and Apple Watch early in the week, added less than 1%. In the past, the iPhone maker’s annual product launch is known to cause the stock to typically move between 3% and 6% in the 15 days following the event. Semiconductor supplier Broadcom , the fourth-largest holding of the technology fund, soared 22.4% this week. The XLK is up 14.4% this year, trailing the SPDR S & P 500 ETF , which is ahead 18.4%. The fund is also 7.4% below its mid-July record, while the S & P 500 is less than 1% from its all-time high the same month. This week’s rally notwithstanding, that is causing investors to ask if the tech rebound is a ” dead cat bounce ” after brief slumps in early August and September, or something more lasting. “The return of demand for tech and semis this week has been constructive, especially with buyers coming in again at the 200-day moving average,” said LPL Financial chief technical strategist Adam Turnquist. “However, we don’t believe this week’s rally warrants the waving of the all clear flag for this current pullback.” “Breadth and relative strength have notably deteriorated in the space, while the tech sector or PHLX Semiconductor Sector Index (SOX) have yet to clear resistance off their August highs,” he continued, adding that it is concerning that only one-third of the chip index’s individual stocks are trading above their longer-term uptrend, compared to 90% in July. That alone suggests semiconductor stocks have lost their leadership status, at least for now, Turnquist said.
