Wall Street pushed higher on Monday as a late-year bounce in AI-linked stocks nudged the major indexes into a third consecutive winning session — even as traders kept an eye on geopolitical flashpoints that lifted gold and silver to fresh highs.
The S&P 500 closed up 0.64% at 6,878.49, the Dow added 227.79 points to finish at 48,362.68, and the Nasdaq rose about 0.5% to 23,428.83. Tech bellwethers did the heavy lifting: Nvidia ticked higher after reports it aims to begin shipments of its H200 accelerator to China as soon as mid‑February, while chipmaker Micron and software giant Oracle also gained ground.
Markets at a glance
The market’s tone felt familiar — an AI-fueled rally tempered by selective profit-taking and rotation into cheaper corners of the market. Investors have delivered large year-to-date gains: the S&P is roughly 17% higher in 2025 after earlier blowout years. Strategists remain broadly optimistic for 2026, projecting further upside, though many warn to expect bumps along the way as policy and political changes loom.
“Constructively optimistic,” said one portfolio manager, summing up the cautious hope that’s common on trading desks heading into the holidays: stocks can keep climbing, but volatility is likely to pop up around governing events and big headlines.
When AI leads, everything else follows
The market’s recent rhythm highlights a narrow leadership story. A handful of AI-focused names are exerting outsized influence — not just through direct market cap impact but by shaping investor psychology. Nvidia’s reported plan to resume shipments of its H200 modules to China helped soothe some concerns about chip access and demand, even as regulators and geopolitics complicate cross‑border flows.
That dynamic isn’t confined to hardware. Big tech is also busy buying infrastructure and capacity: Alphabet’s announced acquisition of data-center and energy-infrastructure firm Intersect for $4.75 billion underscores how hyperscalers are locking in power and real estate to feed AI growth. The deal reads like another chapter in the arms race for compute and infrastructure — an arms race that extends beyond chips into data centers and software. It echoes initiatives such as Google’s Project Suncatcher, which show how companies are thinking very creatively about where to put the next generation of AI capacity. For model-building and creative tools, the landscape is shifting fast too — witness moves like Microsoft’s MAI-Image-1, which signal competition on both hardware and AI services.
Geopolitics, oil and the safe-haven story
The geopolitical backdrop pushed commodities higher. The U.S. ramped up enforcement around Venezuelan shipments, seizing tankers and chasing others — a campaign that helped lift crude more than 2% intraday. That same tension sent investors into precious metals: gold and silver hit record levels, with bullion comfortably trading above the $4,400 mark and silver nearing $70 an ounce in intraday moves. Lower-for-longer rate expectations for 2026, combined with the safe-haven bid from geopolitical risk, are key drivers for the metals’ surge.
Those moves matter for portfolio construction: higher gold changes hedge math for institutional investors, and rising oil creates margin pressure for energy‑intensive businesses while helping energy sector stocks outpace the market at times.
Corporate headlines that moved stocks
A handful of company-specific stories added market texture. Alphabet’s Intersect deal was met with mild applause as a practical plug-in to its capacity plans. Telecom and energy names saw choppiness after regulatory and policy announcements. In other corners, takeover chatter remained active — Janus Henderson agreed to a buyout, while Cintas launched a renewed approach for UniFirst, sending the latter’s shares sharply higher.
On the margin, legal and corporate governance updates affected single stocks: Tesla rose after a Delaware court reinstated CEO Elon Musk’s 2018 pay package, a ruling that had immediate market reverberations.
The mood heading into year‑end
Seasonality matters here. Historically the stretch around Christmas can be friendly to equities, and investors are balancing fear of missing out on AI gains with nervousness about a concentrated leadership group. Many strategists project further gains for 2026, but most sound the same practical note: expect snapback volatility when macro or policy headlines arrive.
Traders will be watching a short economic calendar this week — some delayed data releases and the holiday‑shortened schedule make for a thinner tape, which can amplify moves. With the New York Stock Exchange closing early on Christmas Eve and markets shut on Thursday, the next few sessions could set the tone for how traders position themselves in January.
If there’s a theme beyond the numbers, it’s that markets are weighing two big forces at once: an AI-driven structural shift that’s drawing capital into a handful of winners, and a geopolitical and macro environment that makes hedging and liquidity management as important as stock selection. That kind of environment rewards nimble positioning — and keeps the trading floor lively even as holiday lights go up.