Tech lifts Wall St higher as markets weigh commodity selloff, earnings

NEW YORK: Wall Street’s main indexes climbed on Monday as a rally in memory chipmakers and other heavyweight stocks powered a rebound from early losses triggered by a sharp decline in precious metal prices.

The S&P 500 snapped three straight daily losses, shaking off a drop earlier in the session when gold and silver’s extended selloff forced investors to unwind leveraged bets.

Memory-related stocks such as Sandisk soared 16 percent, while Seagate gained 5.8 percent. Western Digital rose 7.8 percent, extending strong momentum from January and late-2025.

Market participants said the focus was pivoting toward positioning for what is expected to be the season’s busiest earnings week and important economic indicators.

US factory activity grew for the first time in a year in January, PMI data showed.

“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.

The CBOE volatility VIX index dropped 1.27 points to 16.17, after touching a near two-week high earlier in the session.

At 12:09 p.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 490.04 points, or 1 percent, to 49,382.51. The S&P 500 gained 45.73 points, or 0.66 percent, to 6,984.82, while the Nasdaq Composite climbed 175.21 points, or 0.75 percent, to 23,637.02.

All three indexes had 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.

Tech mega-caps powered the Nasdaq on Monday, with Apple and Amazon climbing more than 2 percent each.

The selloff indicates investors’ patience wearing thin with Big Tech’s staggering capital spending plans, increasing pressure on companies to turn those billions into real, measurable returns to justify high valuations.

Disney fell 5.3 percent despite posting first-quarter earnings above Wall Street expectations.

The small-cap Russell 2000 index climbed more than 1 percent, bouncing from a near one-month low.

Oracle gained 2.4 percent after Wall Street analysts said its USD50 billion fundraising plan allays worries over its ability to finance a massive data-center expansion.

The S&P 500 Energy Sector index dropped 1.4 percent as oil prices slid after US President Donald Trump said Iran was “seriously talking” with Washington, comments that hinted at de-escalation and eased fears of supply disruptions.