U.S. stocks rise as Nvidia gains

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 227.79 points, or 0.47%, to 48,362.68, the S&P 500 added 43.99 points, or 0.64%, to 6,878.49 and the Nasdaq Composite advanced 121.21 points, or 0.52%, to 23,428.83

U.S. stock indexes were higher at the start of a holiday-shortened week on Monday, with shares of Nvidia rising, while the yen firmed after Japanese officials warned against “one-sided and sharp” currency moves.

Stocks were helped in part by a continued rebound in technology stocks, although the advance was broad and almost all of the 11 S&P 500 sectors closed higher. Nvidia was up 1.5%. Reuters reported, citing people familiar with the matter, that Nvidia has told Chinese clients it aims to start shipping its second-most powerful artificial intelligence chips to China before the Lunar New Year holiday in mid-February.

With U.S. equity and bond markets closed on Thursday for Christmas, trading volumes could be light through the end of the week.

The late November downdraft was the intermediate bottom that took many of the technology, AI and data-centre names down. I do believe that was the bottom, said Bruce Zaro, managing director at Granite Wealth Management in Plymouth, Massachusetts.

Now, he said, the market is “entering the Santa Claus period,” which is typically a strong time for stocks.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 227.79 points, or 0.47%, to 48,362.68, the S&P 500 added 43.99 points, or 0.64%, to 6,878.49 and the Nasdaq Composite advanced 121.21 points, or 0.52%, to 23,428.83.

Gold and silver climbed to record highs, and oil prices also rose.

Warner Bros Discovery gained 3.5% after Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison agreed to provide a personal guarantee of $40.4 billion of the equity financing for Paramount Skydance’s offer to acquire the company. Paramount’s shares advanced 4.3%.