Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) at the opening bell in New York City on October 19, 2026.
Angela Weiss | Afp | Getty Images
The Nasdaq Composite rose on Monday as traders moved back into tech following last week’s artificial intelligence-related rout.
The tech-heavy index added 1.4%, while the S&P 500 gained 0.7%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 52 points, or 0.1%.
Intel advanced 5% after JPMorgan analysts upgraded their rating on the chipmaker. Advanced Micro Devices and Micron Technology were also up 3% and 4%, respectively.
The S&P 500 lost nearly 2% last week — its biggest weekly decline since late June. The Nasdaq tumbled 4.5%, snapping a four-week winning streak. Information technology also shed more than 6% to post its worst weekly performance since April 2025. It was the most net sold global sector last week, with hedge funds selling the largest percentage of tech on record, per Goldman Sachs.
Concerns around the health of the AI trade took center stage after CNBC reported, citing sources, that Anthropic’s third-quarter revenue totaled $16.8 billion. And while that’s up from $11.6 billion in the second quarter, it raised flags among investors about the pace of growth with the AI build-out.
Investors in the corporate bond market have started to shun CoreWeave, with the company’s credit default swaps reaching distress levels.
Goldman Sachs traders noted Friday: “AI Credit Spreads and hyperscalers specifically are at the widest levels of the year. The last time spreads were nearly this high, the underlying equities were 15% lower.”
“The widening across the complex has forced investors to confront what happens as AI spending growth slows. AI Capex has likely peaked and financing, sustainability, and returns on capital have become the debate rather than the next near term earnings revision,” they said. “Pessimism is increasing, market breadth is low, and [Friday] we saw the second highest amount of puts traded (right behind June of this year).”
Traders were also keeping a wary eye on oil markets with ship attacks in the Persian Gulf picking up and Ukraine and Russia trading attacks on energy infrastructure. Ukraine hit an oil terminal in St. Petersburg, Russia on Sunday. Longer-dated oil futures have begun to ratchet higher on expectations energy infrastructure disruptions may last well into 2027.
On Monday, however, Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude futures were both trading slightly lower. Brent fell more than 1% to trade almost $108 per barrel, while WTI was around 1% lower at around $100.
A slew of earnings from major companies such as Meta Platforms and Tesla hit the Street this week, with optimism those results will stabilize the market.
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