Market Movers Reshaping Monday's Trading: AI Chips and Policy Shifts Take Center Stage

The Tech Rally That Broke Last Week’s Streak

After several days of market uncertainty and volatility, Wall Street shifted gears on Monday with a pronounced surge across major indices. The turnaround was particularly sharp in the technology sector, where concerns about AI sustainability temporarily took a backseat to fresh spending announcements from industry titans.

The Nasdaq Composite surged 2.69%, gaining 599 points, while the S&P 500 climbed 1.55% (102 points) and the Dow Jones Industrial Average picked up 0.44% (203 points). The broader rally masked divergent movements within individual stocks, with clear winners and losers emerging based on sector-specific catalysts.

Why Chip Stocks Got the AI Boost

Broadcom (NASDAQ: AVGO) emerged as one of Monday’s strongest performers, climbing 11% as investors reassessed the near-term outlook for semiconductor demand. Two separate developments fueled the buying interest.

First, comments about Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOGL, GOOG) and its Google division’s advanced AI infrastructure plans surfaced over the weekend, signaling continued heavy investment in computational capabilities. For Broadcom, which supplies critical networking and connectivity chips to major cloud platforms, such announcements translate directly into expected revenue growth.

Second, and perhaps more immediately impactful, Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) publicly committed to deploying tens of billions in capital toward artificial intelligence initiatives. The announcement amplified what many chip designers already knew: the flood of corporate AI spending shows no signs of abating. While some market participants worry about eventual saturation or a slowdown in deployment pace, Monday’s mood reflected optimism about near-to-medium term capacity buildouts.

Healthcare Bifurcation: Subsidy Hope vs. Drug Disappointment

The healthcare sector showed striking internal divergence. Oscar Health (NYSE: OSCR) surged 22% following signals from Washington that efforts to preserve and extend premium subsidies under the Affordable Care Act might reach a compromise. Throughout the government shutdown in late October and early November, Oscar shareholders braced for the possibility that these subsidy mechanisms—critical to the health insurance company’s enrollment and profitability model—could face elimination.

The Trump administration’s announcement of a potential extension measure came as a relief, offering a lifeline to a sector that had been battered by policy uncertainty. Despite the strong single-day gain, Oscar remains substantially below its October peak, but the policy shift renewed hope for a brighter near-term trajectory.

In stark contrast, Novo Nordisk (NYSE: NVO) fell 6% after releasing disappointing clinical trial results. The pharmaceutical company had tested whether its GLP-1 agonist semaglutide could slow cognitive decline in Alzheimer’s patients. The data did not support efficacy for this indication, marking another setback in an area where successful treatments remain elusive. CEO Mike Doustdar downplayed expectations around the trial, emphasizing its exploratory nature, yet investors proved less forgiving—particularly given the string of failed Alzheimer’s therapies across the industry.

Retail Faces Holiday Headwinds

Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE: ANF) slipped 6% as the company prepares to report quarterly earnings on Tuesday. Investors are bracing for results that reflect both near-term weakness and potential full-year guidance below expectations. The retail sector faces crosscurrents: while the National Retail Federation has projected higher seasonal spending, several large retailers have already cautioned that consumer confidence may be wavering amid job market uncertainties and persistent inflation pressures.

With today’s decline, Abercrombie stock has now surrendered more than half its year-to-date value, positioning the stock among the week’s notable movers in the downward direction.

Market Takeaway: Monday’s session highlighted how corporate AI capital allocation and regulatory clarity can dominate sentiment, even as questions about long-term sustainability persist. The divergence between semiconductor strength and healthcare uncertainty underscores the ongoing importance of sector-specific catalysts in driving individual stock movers.