Bond yields eased, semiconductor stocks threw a party, and the major stock market indexes showed up with potluck dishes. The Nasdaq Composite (NASDAQINDEX: ^IXIC) climbed 1.8% as of 12:04 p.m. ET, the S&P 500 (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC) rose 1.2%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJINDICES: ^DJI) managed 0.5%.
The S&P is now roughly 1% from the record high it set last month, which seemed a lot further away on Friday. Act 2 Could Be 15x Bigger. Most investors think they missed the AI boat because they didn't buy Nvidia in 2005.
But according to our analysts, we're only at the end of "Act 1"—the R&D phase. "Act 2" is the global rollout. Continue » Let's start with oil, since it inspired everything else.
The Saudi East-West pipeline may be out of commission for the next month, but the state-run Aramco oil company loaded seven large tankers with oil over the weekend. Only a handful of vessels are moving through the Strait of Hormuz, but the Saudis are pushing out some serious oil volume anyhow. Brent crude dropped about 3.4% to $100.30 after flirting with $110 last week.
Lower oil lifted some pressure from Treasury bonds too, with the 10-year yield sliding more than 3 basis points to 4.96%. That gave technology room to run. Meta Platforms (NASDAQ: META) jumped 8.6% because it paired the bullish market mood with a fresh success.
The Muse AI agent topped free U.S. iPhone downloads for three straight days. The same tidbit drove chip stocks higher, too. Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ: AMD) rose 9.1% and Intel (NASDAQ: INTC) gained 14% on the theory that all those Muse users will need somebody's chips.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
