Stock Market Today: Nasdaq 100 Rises as AI Chip Rout Reverses, SanDisk Jumps 7%

U.S. stocks diverged at midday Monday as a rebound in AI chip and infrastructure names lifted the Nasdaq 100 by 1.7% and the S&P 500 by 0.7%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average hovered at the flat line. The bounce follows a rough week in which the Nasdaq shed more than 4%, while chip stocks lost nearly 10%. Fed Chair Warsh declined to preview next week’s FOMC decision, saying recent hot inflation readings have not changed his assessment of the economy, even as markets price roughly a 80% chance of an October hold. The 10-year Treasury yield rose about 6 basis points to 5.14%, after falling nearly 15 basis points last week. Across U.S. equity markets by midday Monday, gains were concentrated in technology. The S&P 500 advanced 51 points to 7,711, while the Dow Jones slipped 6 points to 51,996, with defensive and rate-sensitive groups lagging. The Nasdaq 100 climbed 511 points to 29,699, but remains about 2.3% below its September close. Within Magnificent Seven stocks, Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) gained 4.9% to $262.32. The Russell 2000 rose 0.6% to 2,736. AI semiconductor names led the charge: Intel Corp. (NASDAQ:INTC) gained 5.0% as JP Morgan upgraded the stock to Neutral, while Lam Research Corp. (NASDAQ:LRCX) added 5.4%. Memory names rallied after last week’s rout. Micron Technology Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) climbed about 4%, SanDisk Corp. (NASDAQ:SNDK) soared nearly 7% while SK Hynix Inc. (NASDAQ:SKHY) gained about 6%. Optical names were also bid, with Marvell Technology Inc. (NASDAQ:MRVL) soaring 7.3%. Monday’s Performance in Major US Indices IndexLast% ChangeMTDYTDS&P 5007,710.86+0.67%+0.78%+12.64%Dow Jones51,996.26-0.01%+2.14%+8.18%Nasdaq 10029,698.65+1.75%-2.33%+17.62%Russell 20002,736.43+0.55%-2.16%+10.26%Updated by 12:10 PM ET According to the Benzinga Pro platform: The Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (NYSE:VOO) gained 0.7%. The SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF Trust (NYSE:DIA) was little changed, slipping less than 0.1%. The Invesco QQQ Trust (NASDAQ:QQQ) climbed 1.7%. The iShares Russell 2000 ETF (NYSE:IWM) rose 0.5%. Tech Rebounds as Rate-Sensitive Sectors Slide Technology led the S&P 500 sectors, with the Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLK) up 2.0%, followed by the Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLY), which gained 1.6%. At the other end, the Utilities Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLU) fell 1.6% and the Real Estate Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLRE) lost 1.2% as Treasury yields rose. The Health Care Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLV), Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLE) and Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLF) each slipped about 0.8%. Among industry funds, the VanEck Semiconductor ETF (NASDAQ:SMH) jumped 3.0% and the iShares Expanded Tech-Software Sector ETF (BATS:IGV) gained 1.9%, while the VanEck Gold Miners ETF (NYSE:GDX) fell 1.3% as gold futures eased about 0.5% to roughly $4,160 an ounce. The SPDR S&P Metals & Mining ETF (NYSE:XME) added 0.7%. Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE:CLF) was the top gainer in the Russell 1000, surging 16.0% to $14.06 after third-quarter adjusted EPS of $0.28 topped the $0.21 consensus. Adjusted EBITDA came in at $612 million, and management guided to more than $700 million in the fourth quarter and over $4 billion next year, citing tariff-supported steel prices and volumes. Applied Digital Corp. (NASDAQ:APLD) rose 10.2% to $19.89, with TeraWulf Inc. (NASDAQ:WULF) and IREN Ltd. (NASDAQ:IREN) up roughly 6% each. The move reflects a bounce in power-backed data center names after last week’s selloff tied to financing concerns. FormFactor Inc. (NASDAQ:FORM) gained 8.4% to $113.78, moving in line with semiconductor-equipment peers such as Teradyne Inc. (NASDAQ:TER), which rose 6.6%. Monday’s Russell 1000 Top Gainers Name% changeCleveland-Cliffs Inc.+15.98%Applied Digital Corporation+10.19%FormFactor, Inc.+8.36%Marvell Technology, Inc.+7.27%Sandisk Corporation+7.18% Monday’s Russell 1000 Top Losers Name% changeAlmonty Industries Inc. (NASDAQ:ALM) -8.40%Medical Properties Trust, Inc. (NYSE:MPT) -7.81%RB Global, Inc. (NYSE:RBA)-5.95%Figure Technology Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:FIGR)-4.95%Quantinuum Inc. (NASDAQ:QNT) -4.78% Image: Shutterstock