U.S. stocks gained in early trading Monday as Brent and U.S. crude prices dropped, even as Nvidia shares fell after the company said it was investigating a report involving CEO Jensen Huang.
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The S&P rose 0.8% early Monday and was on track for a second straight gain, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 541 points and the Nasdaq composite was up 0.8%.
Stocks were supported by a drop in oil prices, with Brent crude falling 5.4% and later reported down 3.6% to $94.76 per barrel. U.S. benchmark crude was down 3.1% to $88.05 per barrel.
The move came as Nvidia, a key player in artificial intelligence infrastructure, fell despite efforts to reassure investors. Nvidia shares slid 5% before the opening bell Monday after the company said it was opening an investigation into reports that CEO Jensen Huang may have been the “target of a foreign intelligence effort.”
The report cited Huang’s acknowledgement that he was intimate with a business executive identified as gathering information for China, according to U.S. intelligence described in the story, while China’s Foreign Ministry denied any spying allegations.
Despite the day’s rebound, the S&P 500 was still 5.7% below its all-time high set last month following U.S. midterm elections that upended markets. The story also pointed to U.S. market expectations ahead of upcoming inflation releases, with the consumer price index due Tuesday and the producer price index scheduled for Friday.
Oil and geopolitics were also in focus. The story said energy prices were retreating as President Donald Trump is set to meet Qatar’s prime minister at the White House on Monday, and it reported Iran was reviewing proposals presented by Qatar aimed at addressing differences with the United States about Tehran’s nuclear program.
In the Middle East, Saudi Arabia said it intercepted incoming missiles targeting the kingdom’s capital and other regions on Sunday, and the story said falling debris damaged a building belonging to Aramco in Riyadh’s financial district.
In other market moves tied to the week’s earnings calendar, the story said AI-related stocks were mostly higher, including Applied Materials, CoreWeave and Cisco, with CoreWeave down 3.4% in premarket trading and Applied Materials up nearly 2%. It also noted earnings from Trump Media and Technology Group and Skydance, while reporting Skydance gained almost 2% in premarket trading and Trump Media shares were described as essentially flat before the opening bell.
Outside North America, the story reported Germany’s DAX climbed 1% to 26,070.78 and France’s CAC 40 rose 0.7% to 8,197.80. Britain’s FTSE 100 was up 0.7% to 10,745.87, while Asian markets were mixed. The U.S. dollar slipped to 157.95 Japanese yen from 158.36 late Friday, and the euro rose to $1.1191 from $1.1142.
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