Nvidia and Big Tech Rally to Help Wall Street Recover Much of Last Week's Loss

A view of a Nvidia logo at their headquarters in Taipei, Taiwan May 31, 2023. (Reuters)
A view of a Nvidia logo at their headquarters in Taipei, Taiwan May 31, 2023. (Reuters)
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Nvidia and Big Tech Rally to Help Wall Street Recover Much of Last Week's Loss

A view of a Nvidia logo at their headquarters in Taipei, Taiwan May 31, 2023. (Reuters)
A view of a Nvidia logo at their headquarters in Taipei, Taiwan May 31, 2023. (Reuters)

Big Tech and other superstars of the US stock market are rallying on Monday, as Wall Street recovers much of its loss from last week.

The S&P 500 climbed 1.2% to claw back more than two-thirds of its first weekly loss in the last four. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 183 points, or 0.4%, as of 10:15 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 1.9% higher.

Nvidia was by far the strongest force pushing the market upward and rose 4%. It and other winners in the frenzy around artificial-intelligence technology had been at the center of last week’s drop. Critics say their stock prices shot too high and too fast in the mania around AI, drawing comparisons to the 2000 dot-com bubble that ultimately burst.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., which makes chips for Nvidia and other companies, saw its stock that trades in United States rise 3.1% after saying its revenue climbed nearly 17% in October from a year earlier. While such growth is strong compared with other companies, it’s a slowdown from TSMC’s earlier performance.

Another AI darling, Palantir Technologies, jumped 8% for the biggest gain in the S&P 500.

The gains for tech helped offset losses across much of the rest of the market, as the majority of stocks within the S&P 500 index sank.

Health insurers fell as uncertainty remains about whether Washington will extend expiring health care tax credits, a sticking point in the disagreement on Capitol Hill that's created the longest-ever shutdown for the US government.

That's even though the Senate took the first steps on Sunday to end the shutdown.

President Donald Trump suggested in a social media post over the weekend — with few details — that the subsidies being sent to the “money sucking” insurance companies should instead be sent directly to people so they can buy their own health insurance.

Humana fell 2.6%, and Cigna slipped 0.7%, The AP news reported.

The effects of the government's shutdown have become more apparent following the cancellations of thousands of flights over the weekend. Towers are facing shortages as some air traffic controllers — unpaid for weeks — have stopped showing up for work.

Besides the pain at airports, the US government’s shutdown has also delayed many important reports on the economy. A resumption could upset financial markets if the released logjam shows data that dashes traders’ expectations for coming cuts to interest rates.

The wide expectation is that the Federal Reserve will continue to cut its main interest rate in hopes of shoring up what has been a slowing job market. Wall Street loves lower interest rates because they can give the economy a boost while also pushing prices for investments upwards.

But the Fed has said it may have to halt its cuts if inflation worsens because lower interest rates can give inflation more fuel.

Without updates from the US government on jobs and the economy, traders have been trawling profit reports from companies for clues about how things are going.

Tyson Foods, which sells chicken and other meat, climbed 2.1% after reporting a stronger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. It benefited from increases in prices of 11% to 17% for its beef and pork.

Roughly four out of every five companies in the S&P 500 have also been reporting stronger profits for the summer than analysts expected. Companies usually top analysts’ profit expectations each quarter, but the pressure was high this time around because they needed to justify the big moves upward their stock prices have made since April.

Delivering bigger profits is one of the easier ways they can quiet criticism that their stock prices have become too expensive.

Companies have also been giving generally strong forecasts for upcoming results, according to Bank of America strategist Savita Subramanian. That has analysts' overall expectations for earnings in 2026 nearly all the way back to where they were before Trump shocked the economy and financial markets with his “Liberation Day” announcement of worldwide tariffs.

In stock markets abroad, indexes rallied across much of Europe and Asia.

South Korea’s Kospi jumped 3% for one of the bigger gains. Chip company SK Hynix, which is cooperating with Nvidia on artificial intelligence, leaped 4.5%. Its bigger rival, Samsung Electronics, climbed 2.8%.

In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury edged down to 4.10% from 4.11% late Friday.



Meta Expands Louisiana Data Center to 5 Gigawatts Compute Capacity

FILE PHOTO: The logo of Meta at the Meta Lab in Los Angeles, California, US, May 20, 2026. REUTERS/Daniel Cole/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: The logo of Meta at the Meta Lab in Los Angeles, California, US, May 20, 2026. REUTERS/Daniel Cole/File Photo
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Meta Expands Louisiana Data Center to 5 Gigawatts Compute Capacity

FILE PHOTO: The logo of Meta at the Meta Lab in Los Angeles, California, US, May 20, 2026. REUTERS/Daniel Cole/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: The logo of Meta at the Meta Lab in Los Angeles, California, US, May 20, 2026. REUTERS/Daniel Cole/File Photo

Meta said ‌on Monday its data center in Richland Parish, Louisiana will expand to 5 gigawatts of compute capacity, in a bid to support the social media company's AI ambitions.

Since breaking ground in December 2024, local Louisiana businesses have received more than $1.6 billion ‌in contracts from Meta, ‌the company said.

Here ‌are ⁠some details:

* Meta ⁠said that the data center expansion is an investment of more than $50 billion in the Richland Parish region.

* Last year, US President Donald Trump ⁠had said the company's data ‌center project ‌would cost $50 billion.

* With this ‌expansion, the company said it ‌plans to invest over $1 billion in local infrastructure improvements, including roads, water and wastewater systems.

* Meta, like its ‌Big Tech peers, has been pouring billions of dollars into ⁠AI ⁠data centers and computing power, as demand continues to outstrip supply.

* The company has pledged to invest $600 billion in US infrastructure and jobs over the next three years, as it builds out massive data centers to power CEO Mark Zuckerberg's aggressive bets on AI agent technologies.


Mulling AI Investment, Anthropic Lobbied Australia on Copyright Law

FILE PHOTO: Anthropic logo, a keyboard, and a robotic hand in this illustration taken June 5, 2026. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration//File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Anthropic logo, a keyboard, and a robotic hand in this illustration taken June 5, 2026. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration//File Photo
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Mulling AI Investment, Anthropic Lobbied Australia on Copyright Law

FILE PHOTO: Anthropic logo, a keyboard, and a robotic hand in this illustration taken June 5, 2026. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration//File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Anthropic logo, a keyboard, and a robotic hand in this illustration taken June 5, 2026. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration//File Photo

Anthropic's chief executive Dario Amodei has lobbied Australian officials for "copyright reform" as the artificial intelligence giant seeks to make a major investment in the country, official briefing notes released Monday show.

Amodei met Australia's Treasurer Jim Chalmers in April to discuss plans to enter the Australian market, including building data centers, AFP reported.

According to briefing notes released under freedom of information law, Amodei had requested the meeting to discuss barriers to AI training in Australia, "particularly copyright reform".

Australia's center-left Labor government is under pressure from musicians, screenwriters and artists to reject proposals they say seek to let AI models use copyrighted works for free.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is set to deliver a speech on AI and "social license" on Wednesday.

A briefing note government officials had sent to Chalmers ahead of his meeting with Amodei said: "Anthropic will raise that investment in AI model development capability and associated infrastructure, like data centers, is contingent on clarity of copyright settings."

In the United States, Anthropic has argued AI training is covered as "fair use" of material, which does not require rightsholders' consent.

The Australian officials disputed this in the briefing note, saying the matter was "not settled".

In Australia, AI companies require permission from copyright holders through a voluntary license.

Anthropic was told Australia would not introduce a text and data mining exception in its copyright law, and was in talks with a range of stakeholders over the issue.

Anthropic "purport there is a 'long tail' of smaller rights holders which impedes efforts to identify and purchase licensing rights", the officials wrote.

Anthropic did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the Australian meeting.


Lee: South Korea's AI Tax Windfall a 'Golden Window' for Investment

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung (C) speaks during the National Fiscal Strategy Meeting at the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae in Seoul, South Korea, 13 July 2026.  EPA/YONHAP SOUTH KOREA OUT
South Korean President Lee Jae Myung (C) speaks during the National Fiscal Strategy Meeting at the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae in Seoul, South Korea, 13 July 2026. EPA/YONHAP SOUTH KOREA OUT
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Lee: South Korea's AI Tax Windfall a 'Golden Window' for Investment

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung (C) speaks during the National Fiscal Strategy Meeting at the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae in Seoul, South Korea, 13 July 2026.  EPA/YONHAP SOUTH KOREA OUT
South Korean President Lee Jae Myung (C) speaks during the National Fiscal Strategy Meeting at the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae in Seoul, South Korea, 13 July 2026. EPA/YONHAP SOUTH KOREA OUT

South Korea will use a tax revenue windfall from artificial intelligence chipmakers as a strategic source of investment, President Lee Jae Myung said Monday, describing a "golden window" of opportunity.

Global demand for advanced memory chips used in AI data centers has helped South Korea's semiconductor giants post record profits this year, boosting economic growth.

The boom has also strengthened workers' demands for higher pay, with Samsung Electronics avoiding a major strike in May after reaching an agreement on bonuses.

"Driven by an unprecedented semiconductor boom fueled by the AI revolution, we expect to see additional tax revenues on a scale never experienced before," Lee said at a policy meeting with cabinet members.

According to AFP, his comments reflect plans previously outlined by his office to use the excess tax revenues, from chipmakers Samsung Electronics and SK hynix in particular, to fund public infrastructure projects.

"These revenues are a valuable national resource that should be invested during the golden window when the global race for AI leadership is being decided," Lee said.

The tax windfall will be used to establish a "future response fund" to concentrate investment in "future industries, youth, regional development, and education", he added, without giving further details.

Through such mechanisms, the government wants to ensure the benefits of the fast-evolving AI industry are shared by all, he said.

Budget Minister Park Hong-keun told the meeting that South Korea was expected to reap tax revenue of at least 500 trillion won (US$330 billion) next year, above an earlier estimate of 412 trillion won.

Against that backdrop, his ministry "will draw up next year's budget at a record-high scale of 800 trillion won", he said, an increase of more than 10 percent from this year's budget.