Nasdaq Rises 1.11% as Chip Stocks Rebound; Dow Slips

The Nasdaq rose 1.11% to 26,430.89 on Monday, October 19, as investors bought chipmakers and other artificial intelligence-linked shares following last week’s steep losses. The S&P 500 added 0.42% to 7,691.07, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average edged down 0.06% to 51,970.20, according to Economic Times Markets, citing Reuters.

The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index ended an eight-session losing streak that had erased about 15.7% of its value. The report described that stretch as its longest sequence of daily declines since October 2008. Technology shares had also recorded their worst weekly performance since late June.

Upgrades help sentiment, but financing worries persist

Company-specific developments supported the recovery. Goldman Sachs raised its recommendation on cloud-computing provider CoreWeave from neutral to buy. The company had been a focus of the previous week’s selling, with its shares dropping more than 25% amid investor concerns about its reported $50 billion debt load.

Intel shares advanced after J.P. Morgan upgraded its recommendation from underweight to neutral. Outside technology, steelmaker Cleveland-Cliffs rose after reporting third-quarter profit above analysts’ expectations.

Michael James, managing director and equity sales trader at Rosenblatt Securities, characterised the semiconductor recovery as a reversal after selling had become excessive, rather than a response to a substantial improvement in underlying conditions. He cautioned that the market remained vulnerable ahead of major technology companies’ earnings.

The recovery therefore did not establish that worries about financing AI investment had subsided. Energy costs were another factor: US crude settled 2.2% higher at $103.66 a barrel following renewed attacks involving Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis, the report said.