Stock Market Today: S&P 500, Nasdaq Rally on Tech Rebound
The stock market today delivered a split decision on Monday, as the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite climbed on a rebound in beaten-down technology shares while the Dow Jones Industrial Average wavered near the flatline. Bargain hunters returned to chip stocks after the sector’s worst week since June, though the rally stayed narrow — fewer than half of U.S. stocks advanced.
In midday trading, the S&P 500 rose about 0.85% to roughly 7,700, while the Nasdaq Composite jumped about 1.6% to near 26,500. The Dow was the outlier: after slipping early, it hovered close to unchanged, weighed down by weakness in financials, energy, and other non-tech names.
Tech Stocks Lead the Bounce
Semiconductors powered the recovery. Intel surged more than 4% in early trading after JPMorgan upgraded the stock from underweight to neutral, lifting sentiment across the sector. Advanced Micro Devices and Micron Technology each gained over 4%, while Broadcom added about 2.5% and Nvidia climbed nearly 1%. SanDisk soared more than 7%, and CoreWeave — which had tumbled over 25% last week on debt worries — bounced back as well.
The rebound followed a bruising stretch driven by doubts over the massive capital spending flowing into artificial intelligence and whether those investments will pay off. Analysts said Monday marked a reset in expectations rather than a verdict, with one strategist warning that volatility in tech names would pick up as the AI buildout continued.
The session also carried the 39th anniversary of the 1987 Black Monday crash. Some social-media chatter ahead of the open predicted trouble, but analysts called the fear overblown and pointed to earnings as the real test of direction.
Dow Wavers as Breadth Stays Weak
Outside tech, the picture was much thinner. Declining issues outnumbered advancers on the New York Stock Exchange, and by mid-morning fewer than half of all listed U.S. stocks were higher. The Russell 2000 small-cap index was among the laggards, and utilities, beverage, and payments stocks traded in the red.
The split underscored how dependent the rally remains on a handful of heavyweight growth names. Most S&P 500 constituents were posting losses even as the index itself advanced, led by the technology sector’s roughly 1.2% gain.
Oil Slips, Yields Tick Up Ahead of Earnings
Oil prices eased as investors booked profits after last week’s run-up. Brent crude slipped more than 1% to around $108 a barrel, while U.S. crude held near $101. Gold fell modestly to about $4,145 an ounce, and the yield on the 10-year Treasury note ticked up a few basis points to near 5.13%.
Attention now turns to a heavy earnings calendar. Meta and Tesla are both set to report Wednesday, while SpaceX reports Tuesday — results that could decide whether Monday’s tech bounce has legs or whether last week’s AI jitters return.
Source: MarketWatch