A powerful rebound in semiconductor stocks lifted Wall Street on Monday, driving the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 sharply higher, as investors dumped defensive corners of the market in a broad risk-on rotation.
The session’s driving force was memory. A DRAM-sector surge rippled across chipmakers ahead of Samsung‘s quarterly sales updates and SK Hynix‘s planned U.S. listing this Friday, with the market betting the artificial-intelligence trade that has powered the bull run still has room to run.
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The enthusiasm was concentrated. As chips and small caps rallied, money drained out of consumer staples, health care and utilities, leaving breadth uneven and the Dow narrowly in the red by midday despite its record print.
The S&P 500 rose 0.7% to around 7,537, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 0.1% to about 52,864 after tagging a record above 53,000.
The small-cap Russell 2000 rose 0.9%, extending its status as 2026’s strongest major index.
Monday’s Performance In Major U.S. Indices
According to the Benzinga Pro platform:
Memory Chips Set The Tape As Defensives Get Dumped
Bloom Energy Corp. (NYSE:BE) also rallied more than 9% on data-center power demand.
UL Solutions Inc. (NYSE:ULS) fell 7.7% with no confirmed fresh catalyst in the tape, a move that looks like profit-taking on a stock trading near 56 times earnings.
Monday’s Russell 1000 Top Gainers
Monday’s Russell 1000 Top Losers
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