The market got a stress-ball squeeze
Wall Street woke up and chose relief rally. After last week’s tech-led selloff, Monday’s tape flipped fast as President Trump posted that both Israel and Iran were looking for an immediate ceasefire, and Iran said it had ended military operations against Israel. That was enough to yank some of the fear premium out of the market and send the Nasdaq 100 flying 2.1% higher.
Chips stopped acting like they’d seen a ghost
The real fireworks were in semis. Intel popped after a report said Alphabet and Nvidia may be considering it as a backup chipmaker, and the whole semiconductor crew joined the bounce:
- Micron jumped 11%
- KLA climbed 10.3%
- Applied Materials rose 9.2%
- Lam Research added 8.4%
That’s what happens when a sector goes from “everyone run for the exits” to “wait, maybe the AI trade isn’t dead after all” in the span of a weekend.
Oil, yields, and the other drama queens
Crude still held gains, but it cooled off from the more alarming overnight spike as the ceasefire narrative took over. Treasury yields eased a bit, though they stayed elevated after Friday’s blowout jobs report kept the Fed-hike chatter alive. So yes, markets got a geopolitical sigh of relief — but no, the macro backdrop did not suddenly become a spa day.
Big picture
This was a classic “bad news maybe isn’t as bad” session: less war panic, more dip buying, and a very loud reminder that semiconductor stocks can swing like a pendulum with a caffeine problem. If the ceasefire holds, investors may keep rotating back into growth and AI favorites. If it doesn’t, buckle up — the market hates sequel plot twists.