AI stocks lift Wall Street
A rebound for AI stocks lifted the US market on Monday.
The S&P 500 rose 0.7% and pulled back within 1% of its all-time high, even though the majority of stocks within the index fell. The strength for companies in the artificial-intelligence technology industry sent the Nasdaq composite 1.1% higher, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 155 points, or 0.3%, to a record.
AI stocks have swung sharply in recent weeks on worries that their prices shot too high. Doubts are rising about whether all the dollars flowing into AI chips and data centres can possibly create enough gains in productivity and profits to make back all the investments.
The global appetite for AI from investors will face an additional test later this week when SK Hynix, the South Korean maker of computer memory, plans to raise $US28 billion by selling shares of stock that will trade in the United States on the Nasdaq. That would make it one of the biggest US offerings ever, behind SpaceX's IPO from last month, which raised $US75 billion.
SK Hynix's stock in Seoul has already more than tripled so far this year because of the AI boom, but its day-to-day swings have included sharp losses in recent weeks. It fell 14.6% on Thursday alone, for example.
SpaceX, which owns the xAI business, has seen its stock likewise swing following its ballyhooed initial public offering.
All told, the S&P 500 rose 54.19 points to 7,537.54. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 155.84 to 53,055.91, and the Nasdaq composite rallied 288.49 to 26,121.16.
Oil drifts after OPEC+ move
In the oil market, prices drifted after OPEC+ announced that seven of its members plan to expand oil production by a combined total of 188,000 barrels per day in August. It was the fifth straight month that OPEC+ members have agreed to raise output, moves that tend to weigh on oil prices.
The price of a barrel of Brent crude, the international standard, fell 0.2% to $US71.99. That's close to where it was before the United States and Israel attacked Iran in late February and sent prices spiking.
Bond yields ease
In the bond market, US Treasury yields eased a bit. The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 4.47% from 4.49% late on Thursday.
A report showed that growth last month for US recreation, finance and other services businesses was roughly in line with economists' expectations. The survey by the Institute for Supply Management said that some businesses said they were seeing lower prices for petrol and diesel, easing inflationary pressures.
Global markets fall
Elsewhere, indexes fell modestly across much of Europe and Asia. Hong Kong's Hang Seng was an outlier and rose 1.1%.
