S&P 500 rises to start a holiday-shortened week, led by tech

The S&P 500 rose on Monday, spurred by a rise in technology shares, to start a shortened holiday week.

The broad market index gained 0.6%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 249 points, or 0.5%. The Nasdaq Composite climbed 0.6%.

Key stocks linked to artificial intelligence offered a boost to the broader market. Nvidia shares moved higher by more than 1% after Reuters said the company is looking to begin shipments of its H200 chips to China by mid-February. Meanwhile, Micron Technology grew around 3%, while Oracle traded up more than 2%.

Wall Street is coming off a mixed week for the major averages. A late-week surge in tech stocks helped lift the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite to their third winning week in four. The 30-stock Dow, which has outperformed this month, snapped a three-week winning streak.

However, investors are watching to see whether AI stocks can retain their leadership heading into the year-end, especially as investors rotate into cheaper parts of the market amid concerns about lofty tech valuations. There’s also doubt about whether a Santa Claus rally will materialize, as the S&P 500 struggles to hold a key technical level.