US markets kicked off Monday’s trade on a strong note, as Wall Street looked to recover from its worst weekly performance in nearly two years, with a drop in crude oil prices and dip-buyers stepping in to pick up beaten-down shares.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 844 points, or 1.65%. The S&P 500 rose 2%, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 3.4% at their respective intraday highs.
Last week, the S&P 500 posted its biggest weekly loss since April 2025, while $2.3 trillion was wiped off the value of the Nasdaq 100 on Thursday alone, amid concerns that the Democratic Party could crack down on the AI industry after its sweeping gains in Congress.
Japanese and Taiwanese equities both slipped into bear markets last week, while South Korea’s two giant chipmakers, Samsung Electronics Co. and SK Hynix Inc., tumbled more than 16%. However, there was a silver lining for some of the out-of-favor markets.
Last week’s sell-off prompted value buyers to step in and pick up beaten-down stocks, while an extended decline in crude oil prices further supported market sentiment.
Brent crude fell 4% towards $94 a barrel, extending last week’s 16% decline following an unconfirmed report that Iran had made concessions on its demands over the Strait of Hormuz.
CNN cited US President Donald Trump as saying on Sunday that it was “highly unlikely” he would order further strikes against Tehran if negotiations showed progress, although Secretary of State Marco Rubio played down the chances of a breakthrough.
Nvidia drags chip stocks, peers advance
Nvidia was the biggest drag among chip stocks, falling 9% to a seven-month low of $170 apiece, after CEO Jensen Huang admitted to having an affair with a woman identified in a series of reports as a suspected Chinese spy. The news contributed to a drop of as much as 1% in Nasdaq 100 futures at the Asian market open before the contracts reversed those losses.
However, the weakness in Nvidia shares did not extend to its peers. Broadcom and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) each jumped 5%, while ON Semiconductor gained 3%.
Additionally, other members of the “Magnificent Seven” traded higher, in contrast to Nvidia. Amazon gained 5%, while Tesla and Alphabet climbed more than 3%. Microsoft added 2%.
Concerns over the growth outlook for the AI industry will be put to the test this week as investors closely track earnings from AI-related companies, including CoreWeave, Cisco Systems, and Applied Materials.
US inflation report in focus
Attention will turn this week to US inflation data due Tuesday for clues on the Federal Reserve’s interest-rate outlook, with traders assigning an almost 80% probability of a hike by year-end.
The US Labor Department reported on Friday that American employers added 165,000 jobs in October, more than double economists’ expectations of 65,000. The figure was also significantly higher than the average monthly gain of 48,000 recorded over the preceding 12 months.
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