US stocks close in mostly positive territory, led by AI gains

By Mucahithan Avcioglu

ISTANBUL (AA) – US stocks ended the first trading day of the week mostly with gains as artificial intelligence (AI) and tech shares drove the markets up.

The Nasdaq rose 0.46%, or 109.77 points, to close at 23,834.72, while the S&P 500 increased 0.17%, or 11.77 points, to 6,851.97.

On the other hand, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.48%, or 226.19 points, to close at 47,336.68.

The gains in AI and tech giants led the mostly positive course on Monday.

Amazon saw its stock surge 4% following its signing of a seven-year $38 billion agreement with OpenAI to provide the AI company with massive amounts of cloud computing power and infrastructure. The collaboration will make use of hundreds of thousands of Nvidia's chips.

Stocks in the chipmaking sector also increased Monday after data center provider Iren and Microsoft signed a multiyear $9.7 billion agreement to give the tech giant access to Nvidia chips.

Micron Technology saw a 4.9% gain to lead chip stocks higher, and Iren's stock climbed 11.5%.

Monday saw Nvidia shares continue to rise 2.2% after Microsoft revealed that it had obtained permits from the Trump administration to export Nvidia processors to the United Arab Emirates. By the end of 2029, the company's overall investment in the UAE will reach $15.2 billion, it added.

Meanwhile, following the White House's announcement that China has agreed to lift broad export restrictions, shares of American rare earth miners are declining.

MP Materials saw a decline of over 8.6%, USA Rare Earth fell over 13%, Energy Fuels declined 13.2% and NioCorp Developments dropped 11.4%.