U.S. stocks closed mixed on August 14 as a sharp rally in memory chip makers offset weakness in other parts of the semiconductor sector and a surprisingly weak retail sales report reshaped interest-rate expectations. As of 22:05 Beijing time, the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.08%, the Nasdaq Composite edged up 0.11%, and the S&P 500 gained 0.13%. SanDisk led the session's standout move, surging nearly 9% intraday as opening turnover reached $10 billion, the first time it ranked first across the U.S. equity market. The stock is now up 35% over the past five trading sessions. Other memory names also advanced, with Seagate Technology up 7.37%, Western Digital rising 4.38%, and Micron Technology and SK Hynix both gaining more than 3%. SanDisk recently gave long-term guidance for mid-to-high double-digit revenue growth in fiscal 2028-2030, gross margins around 80%, and adjusted free cash flow margins of about 50%. SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won added to the bullish tone, saying that "next year will most likely be the year with the largest memory chip supply shortfall." The strength contrasted with losses in other chip segments. Broadcom fell more than 5%, Applied Materials dropped more than 4%, KLA Corporation declined over 2%, Entegris slipped more than 1%, and ASML and Marvell Technology also traded lower. AMD rose more than 5% and Intel gained over 2%. Applied Materials later reported fiscal second-quarter revenue of $9.12 billion, up 24.8% year over year and above analyst expectations of $9.04 billion, while adjusted earnings per share of $3.50 also topped consensus. Even so, the stock fell nearly 5% in after-hours trading, suggesting investors remain sensitive to valuation pressure in semiconductor equipment. Elsewhere, Lumentum rose more than 5% after guiding first-quarter fiscal 2027 net revenue to $1.23 billion to $1.28 billion, above the market estimate of $1.15 billion. Reddit climbed more than 16% after joining the S&P 500, a change that typically draws passive fund inflows. Unusual Machines also jumped more than 16% after the White House announced tariffs on imported drones and components, prompting bets that U.S.-based drone manufacturers would benefit. Chinese ADRs (U.S.-traded share certificates) were mixed, with the Nasdaq Golden Dragon China Index up 0.16%. WeRide soared 187%, while VNET Group rose more than 3% and NetEase, Tencent Holdings ADR, and Alibaba each gained more than 1%. Agora fell 6%, Kanzhun (BOSS Zhipin) dropped more than 3%, Meituan ADR lost more than 2%, and JD.com slipped over 1%. In commodities, spot gold rose nearly 1% to $4,392.86 per ounce and spot silver gained 1.47%, while Brent crude fell 0.4% and WTI crude declined 0.45%. Gold drew support from rising Middle East tensions after Mohsen Rezaei, a senior adviser to Iran's Supreme Leader, said on social media that if Iran's conditions are not met, the Supreme Leader has made a clear strategic decision to respond by escalating the conflict. The macro catalyst came from the US Census Bureau, which said July retail sales fell 0.6% month over month, the steepest one-month decline since May 2025 and far worse than expectations for a 0.1% increase, after a 0.2% gain in the prior month. Weaker auto purchases and softer online retail were the main drags. Traders then pared back bets on more than one additional Federal Reserve rate hike before mid-2027. Earlier data also showed July PPI (producer price index, a wholesale inflation gauge) rose 4.7% year over year, down from 5.5% in June, while core PPI increased 4.2%, matching consensus. The market's split reflected two competing forces: an AI-driven memory upcycle, supported by rising demand for HBM (high-bandwidth memory, a fast chip memory used in AI servers) and enterprise SSDs, and a softer U.S. consumption backdrop that is pushing investors to reassess the Fed's path. The source says those opposing narratives help explain the mixed performance in the major indexes and the growing divergence across sectors.