US STOCKS-Wall St jumps as oil slide cools inflation worries; Nvidia slumps

US stocks rallied on Monday, as a drop ‌in ​oil prices tempered inflation fears and helped the S&P 500 rebound from its biggest weekly drop since April 2025, and tech shares jumped even as AI heavyweight Nvidia slumped with controversy swirling around CEO Jensen Huang. Last week, stocks slumped after a sweeping victory by Democrats in the US midterm elections fed ‌concerns that new regulations could dent the durability of the AI trade.

Each of the 11 major S&P 500 sector indexes rose on the session, with nine showing gains of more than 1% on Monday. Industrials and consumer discretionary were the top performers, rising more than 3% each. NVIDIA FALLS DESPITE BROADER GAINS

Markets were in rally mode even as Nvidia, the second-most valuable company in the world, tumbled 4.2% and closed at its lowest ‌level since April 7. Investors questioned CEO Huang's future at the AI chipmaker after an internal investigation into whether a foreign intelligence effort had targeted him. "The AI story is not going away if people ‌are worried about that, the Democrats are not going to destroy AI. They can't. It's got a life of its own. They can put regulation around it, but they're certainly not stopping it," said Ken Polcari, partner and chief market strategist at SlateStone Wealth in Jupiter, Florida.

Providing further support was a sharp drop in crude oil prices that helped dampen concerns about price pressures, as US President Donald Trump downplayed the likelihood of renewed strikes on Iran. "Oil prices for sure, if they're down, that's certainly adding fuel to ⁠the fire," ​said Polcari.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1,104.02 points, or ⁠2.15%, to 52,389.75, the S&P 500 gained 173.08 points, or 2.35%, to 7,549.94 and the Nasdaq Composite gained 673.71 points, or 2.74%, to 25,253.14. The S&P recorded its biggest daily percentage gain since April 8, while the Nasdaq marked its biggest daily advance ⁠since July 30.

Inflation readings are on the docket this week as the Labor Department will release its Consumer Price Index report for October on Tuesday and Producer Price Index on Friday. ANALYSTS SEE OVERREACTION

Some analysts on Wall Street also viewed ​last week's decline as an overreaction. Morgan Stanley and UBS said last week's rout in AI stocks was overdone, and risks were low of extreme regulation of data center developments, even ⁠with Democratic majorities in the US Congress. Even as oil prices have eased, expectations for a rate hike at the Federal Reserve's December policy meeting remain above 80%, according to CME FedWatch, as October's strong jobs report gave the central bank latitude to continue raising rates.

On ⁠Monday, ​Richmond Federal Reserve President Tom Barkin said the Fed should move its monetary policy "with care" as it maps a response to inflation. Chipmakers surged. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index shot up 6.9% after plunging more than 12% last week, its biggest weekly drop since the week ended April 4, 2025. Nvidia was the sole decliner in the index on Monday, while Broadcom , up 8.8%, and Advanced Micro Devices, up 13.3%, were ⁠the two biggest boosts.

Shares of investment giant KKR advanced 1.7% after its quarterly profit hit a record high. Constellation Energy , an energy firm with exposure to the AI buildout, shot up more than ⁠10% after its adjusted third-quarter profit surpassed expectations. Advancing issues outnumbered ⁠decliners by a 4.06-to-1 ratio on the NYSE, and by a 3.34-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.

The S&P 500 posted 16 new 52-week highs and three new lows, while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 103 new highs and 164 new lows. Volume on US exchanges was 18.98 billion shares, compared with the 18.72 billion ‌average for the full session over ‌the last 20 trading days.