US stocks were mixed on Monday as Tesla (TSLA) shares resumed a post-election rally and investors looked ahead to Nvidia (NVDA) earnings to test the health of the AI trade.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) fell 0.2%, while the S&P 500 (^GSPC) was up 0.4%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) rose 0.6%, buoyed by a jump in Tesla stock.
Stocks started the week trying to break out of a funk, which saw the S&P 500 reverse around half of its Trump-fueled rally after sharp weekly losses for the major gauges, led by tech.
Signs of a robust economy, combined with comments from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, have prompted investors to downsize expectations for rate cuts.
But the tech sector showed signs of a comeback Monday, with EV maker Tesla leading the way, rising more than 5% in the wake of a Bloomberg report that President-elect Donald Trump’s team is looking to ease US rules for self-driving vehicles.
Elsewhere in tech, eyes are now on Nvidia’s earnings report on Wednesday for insight into the strength of the AI trade, which has helped drive the S&P 500’s gains over the past year. Shares slipped slightly on Monday as production of its flagship Blackwell chip came into focus.
Wall Street also continues to monitor Trump’s picks for his cabinet, after his choice of Robert F. Kennedy Jr for top health official rattled vaccine stocks. The incoming president has named Brendan Carr, a critic of Big Techs such as Meta and Apple, as chairman of the Federal Communications Commission. The wait is now on to learn who will win the frenzied race to become Trump’s Treasury secretary.
Trump Media & Technology Group (DJT) gained 16% in afternoon trading after The Financial Times reported the parent company of Truth Social is in talks to acquire crypto trading venue Bakkt (BKKT). Shares of Bakkt soared more than 169% on the headline.
Meanwhile, bitcoin (BTC-USD) — also a key Trump trade — has rebounded from its biggest retreat since the election at the weekend. The cryptocurrency was trading above $91,000 on Monday.