AI Roars Back as Wall Street Eyes December Rate Cut

Tech stocks roared on Monday as Wall Street revived its AI rally. Hope for a December Fed rate cut, upbeat geopolitical signals, and a wave of AI-driven corporate headlines pushed markets sharply higher.

After trimming tech exposure last week, investors came rushing back, hunting for bargains and fueling an energetic rebound led by Big Tech and, of course, anything with an AI pulse.

Tech Regains the Spotlight

The Nasdaq jumped an impressive 2.7%, while the S&P 500 added 1.6% and the Dow Jones chipped in 0.4%.

After a brief scare over stretched AI valuations, the market snapped back with conviction, helped by investors who apparently decided last week’s dip was nothing more than a rare Black Friday-style discount.

AI again dominated the conversation and the gains.

Alphabet (GOOGL | +6.31%) Shines as AI Front-Runner

Alphabet surged after rolling out Gemini 3, its most capable AI model yet.

Early reviews suggest it’s not just competitive, it’s a direct challenge to today’s top-tier language models. Add to that Berkshire Hathaway’s fresh stake in the company, and it’s clear why the stock continues to attract momentum.

Alphabet’s market cap now hovers around $3.8 trillion, putting it on the brink of joining the ultra-elite $4 trillion club alongside Nvidia, Microsoft, and Apple. Not bad for a company that, a year ago, was supposedly doomed to be disrupted by AI.

Tesla (TSLA | +6.82%) Accelerates on AI Chip Buzz

Elon Musk announced that Tesla is nearly ready to ramp production of its in-house AI5 chip, designed for autonomy, robotics, and datacenters.

Musk claims the chips will “save millions of lives” by enabling safer autonomous driving. Modesty has never been his brand, but the market clearly loved it.

Amazon (AMZN | +2.53%) Bets Big - $50 Billion Big - on AI Infrastructure

Amazon committed $50 billion to boost high-performance computing and AI capacity for U.S. government cloud clients. To say this is a competitive shot across the bow at Microsoft and Alphabet would be an understatement. Investors took notice.

Fed Officials Fan the Rate-Cut Flames

The other major catalyst: the Federal Reserve.

Three key policymakers - John Williams, Christopher Waller, and Mary Daly - suggested they’re open to a December interest rate cut, citing cooling labor markets and slowing economic momentum. Notably, the odds of a December cut jumped from 40% last week to 85% on Monday (CME FedWatch).

Boston Fed President Susan Collins pushed back, saying she doesn’t yet see the need—but markets clearly chose to ignore the lone dissenting voice.

Rate-cut optimism tends to supercharge tech valuations, and yesterday was textbook.

US–China Relations: A Rare Good News Moment

Add a geopolitical twist to the mix: President Donald Trump described a “very good” phone call with China’s Xi Jinping and said he’s been invited to Beijing next April. Markets love thawing relations between the two largest economies on earth, especially ahead of the holiday shopping season.

However, JPMorgan’s David Kelly urged caution, warning that higher import tariffs are likely to make this a softer retail season. Inflation by another name still hits the wallet.

Corporate Headlines Worth Noting

Alibaba (BABA | +5.1%) Enjoys AI-Fueled Momentum

Alibaba reported more than 10 million downloads of its AI app Qwen within a week of relaunch. The assistant can draft research reports and even auto-generate polished PowerPoints, no word yet on whether it also makes coffee.

AMD (AMD | +5.53%) & Nvidia (NVDA | +2.05%) Extend AI Gains

Chipmakers continued riding the AI wave as investors rotated back into high-growth semiconductors.

Tyson Foods (TSN | +6.52%) Cuts Capacity

The meat industry is hurting from a shortage of cattle, sending Tyson Foods higher after it announced plans to close a large beef processing facility.

MP Materials (MP | +6.82%) Up on Analyst Upgrade

Rare-earth miner MP Materials rallied after BMO Markets upgraded the stock to Outperform and lifted its price target.

Looking Ahead

This holiday-shortened week brings U.S. retail sales, durable goods orders, PPI data, and the Fed’s Beige Book, all landing just as markets weigh the growing likelihood of easier monetary policy.

With tech enthusiasm firing on all cylinders again and the macro backdrop turning friendlier, investors are entering the final stretch of November with renewed optimism.

But as always, volatility never takes a holiday, only the exchanges do.

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Kristoff - ChartMill

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