Nasdaq 100: Chip Stocks Jump as US Stocks Recover and Indices Outlook Improves

Wall Street Shakes Off Metals Selloff — Memory Chips Lead the Comeback

Wall Street’s main indexes rose Monday at the mid-session, shaking off early losses triggered by a sharp selloff in precious metals. The S&P 500 snapped three straight daily losses as gold and silver’s extended drop forced investors to unwind leveraged bets.

The focus is pivoting toward what’s expected to be the season’s busiest earnings week and important economic data. U.S. factory activity grew for the first time in a year in January, according to PMI data.

“We’re heading into a new week with plenty of catalysts in front of us and we’re seeing some stabilization in markets. In the near term, we’ve priced in enough of some of the concerns we’ve had,” said Art Hogan of B. Riley Wealth.

VIX Drops While Nasdaq Straddles Critical 50-Day MA

The CBOE volatility index dropped 1.27 points to 16.17 following a near two-week high earlier in the session. All three indexes posted gains in January despite bouts of selloff caused by geopolitical tensions. The S&P breached the 7,000-mark for the first time on resilient earnings and bets on AI-linked growth.

Technically, the Nasdaq Composite Index is edging higher after finding support on the 50-day moving average at 23355.27. The index has straddled this moving average several times since last fall. A sustained move over the 50-day moving average could help build the momentum needed to challenge the last main top at 23988.27 and the record high at 24019.99. A failure to hold the 50-day MA could trigger an acceleration into the long-term pivot at 22959.14.

Energy Tanks as Iran Talks Heat Up — Tech and Industrials Carry the Load

Tech gained 0.95%, industrials added 0.99%, and consumer discretionary rose 0.99%. Consumer staples led with a 1.28% rise. Energy dropped 1.37% as oil prices slid when President Trump said Iran was “seriously talking” with Washington. The comments hinted at de-escalation and eased fears of supply disruptions. Lower energy prices boosted airline shares. United rose 5.5%, JetBlue jumped 6%, Delta gained 4.9%, and Southwest added 3.5%. Utilities fell 1.25%, and real estate slipped 0.74%.

Memory Stocks Explode Higher — Big Tech Gets Mixed Results

Memory-related stocks led the charge. Sandisk soared 16%, Western Digital rose 7.8%, and Seagate gained 5.8%, building on strong momentum from January and late 2025. Tech mega-caps powered the Nasdaq. Apple and Amazon climbed more than 2% each. Microsoft, however, was down 1.1%, posting its steepest weekly drop since March 2020 on disappointing cloud revenue Friday. The selloff shows investors’ patience wearing thin with Big Tech’s staggering capital spending plans.

Disney Drops Despite Beat — Oracle and Nvidia Make Waves

Disney fell 5.3% despite beating earnings. The company warned that declining international visitors will result in “modest” growth in its experiences division. Oracle gained 2.4% as analysts said its $50 billion fundraising plan eases worries over financing its data-center expansion. Nvidia edged down 1% on reports its $100 billion OpenAI investment stalled, though CEO Jensen Huang said a “huge investment” is still planned. Tesla shed 2% following reports Waymo is raising $16 billion. Strategy dropped 2% as bitcoin fell under $80,000.

128 Companies Report This Week — But Jobs Data Gets Delayed

Alphabet, Amazon, and AMD are among the 128 S&P 500 companies due to report. The closely watched January employment report won’t be released Friday due to the partial government shutdown.

More Information in our Economic Calendar.