Wall Street ends higher as traders return to AI stocks

Wall Street has ended sharply higher, fuelled by gains in AI-related stocks, with Meta Platforms climbing after a report that it is preparing for sweeping layoffs, while oil prices retreated amid ongoing uncertainty about the Middle East conflict. Meta jumped after Reuters reported on Monday that the social media platform plans to shrink its workforce by at least 20 per cent to offset costly artificial-intelligence infrastructure bets and prepare for greater efficiency brought about by AI-assisted workers. Nvidia climbed after CEO Jensen Huang announced new components at the chipmaker's annual developer conference. Taiwan's Foxconn, which makes AI servers using Nvidia chips, issued a strong quarterly revenue forecast on Monday. Tesla rose after CEO Elon Musk said the company's Terafab project to make AI chips will launch in seven days. Micron Technology jumped after the memory chipmaker announced plans for a second manufacturing facility in Taiwan. A modest drop in crude prices after the US said it would be "fine" with some Iranian, Indian and Chinese ships moving through the Strait of Hormuz also offered some relief to the market. "You've got news that Iranian oil tankers are moving through, or are soon going to be moving through, the Strait of Hormuz, which is a positive for global economic stability," said Terry Sandven, chief equity strategist at US Bank Wealth Management in Minneapolis. "But on balance, the path forward is filled with twists and turns. ... There's lack of visibility when the conflict is likely to end." Higher energy prices are likely to feature prominently in central bank meetings globally this week. The Fed is widely expected to leave interest rates unchanged at the end of its two-day meeting on Wednesday. Traders have pushed back their expectations for an interest rate cut of at least 25 basis points beyond October, according to LSEG-compiled data, compared with their previous expectation of a cut in July. "There are a couple of reasons to take any signals from this meeting with a pinch of salt. First, a swing in oil prices in either direction could quickly change the Fed's thinking, and second, markets might slightly discount messages from Chair (Jerome) Powell, given this will be one of the last of his term," said James McCann, senior economist at Edward Jones in a note. According to preliminary data, the S&P 500 gained 67.42 points, or 1.02 per cent, to end at 6,699.61 points, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 269.34 points, or 1.22 per cent, to 22,374.70. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 385.63 points, or 0.83 per cent, to 46,944.10. Wall Street's fear gauge, the CBOE volatility index, dropped, while the rate-sensitive Russell 2000 index gained. Despite logging declines over the past three weeks, US equities have fared better than global peers, buoyed by a rebound in beaten-down technology stocks and as the country is a net oil exporter. However, the S&P 500 remains down about 2 per cent so far in 2026. February industrial production increased 0.2 per cent, slightly better than expectations of a 0.1 per cent rise. Travel stocks Delta Air Lines and Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings both gained, lifted by lower oil prices. Crypto stock Strategy Inc climbed as bitcoin rallied around 3 per cent. Discount retailer Dollar Tree rose after signaling it could benefit from favourable tariffs in the near term.