The market this week again revolved around AI and semiconductors, driven by a combination of falling oil prices and expectations for tech stock earnings. [Photo: Composite by Hanmi Daily]

The theme of this week's market trend is "slowing down the tech rally."

The market bought technology stocks once more. The starting point was oil prices. As expectations for renewed US-Iran negotiations and the possibility of de-escalation in the Middle East surfaced, international oil prices declined. This provided a temporary reprieve from inflation and interest rate burdens.

The stock market reacted swiftly. With the pressure of high oil prices and rising interest rates easing, investors once again turned their attention to growth and technology stocks.

This week, Money Radar has one question:

Why did the market ultimately buy semiconductors and tech stocks while observing oil prices?

Three structural factors were confirmed in the market this week.

First, falling oil prices alleviated valuation pressure on technology stocks.

When high oil prices stimulate inflation and interest rates, technology stocks face pressure. Conversely, as oil prices fall, it creates breathing room for interest rate-sensitive technology stocks. This is why technology and semiconductor stocks like Apple, AMD, Micron, and Intel re-entered the market's focus early this week.

Second, the AI investment cycle remained the dominant narrative in the market.

The earnings of big tech companies and the performance expectations for semiconductor firms delivered a consistent message to the market. Although AI is still mired in cost discussions, it simultaneously remains the most powerful growth driver explaining corporate capital expenditure and future profits. The market priced in the bottlenecks in AI infrastructure before fully accounting for the burden of AI investment.

Third, the profit-taking seen later in the week was not a rejection of the rally but a recalibration of its pace.

After a sharp surge, semiconductor stocks entered a phase of reassessing production capacity, earnings visibility, and valuation burdens. While some stocks saw sell-offs, technology stocks as a whole did not exit the market. The market still acknowledges the direction of AI but has begun to differentiate between individual stocks based on their earnings and bottleneck positions.

This week, the market bought technology stocks when oil prices were low and adjusted the pace of semiconductor investments as oil prices and interest rates began to fluctuate again.

Next week's checkpoints are threefold:

First, we need to confirm whether expectations for US-Iran negotiations translate into actual oil price stabilization.

Second, we need to observe if the US tech stock rally expands beyond semiconductors to software and infrastructure sectors.

Third, we must assess whether rising interest rates will once again impose valuation pressure on growth stocks.

※ This article is for reference and analysis to help understand market trends and the article's content; it is not investment advice. Actual market conditions and stock prices may vary due to factors such as oil prices, exchange rates, interest rates, corporate earnings, supply and demand, and policy variables. The ultimate investment decision rests with the individual investor.