The Nasdaq Composite led Wall Street gains on Oct. 19, 2026, as investors returned to chipmakers and other AI-linked stocks after the previous week's selloff, Reuters reported. At 2:08 p.m., the Nasdaq was up 1.18% to 26,447.86, while the S&P 500 was up 0.53% to 7,700.54. The Dow was nearly flat, up 0.03%.
The S&P 500 and Nasdaq had posted their biggest weekly declines since late June. Reuters attributed the pressure on technology shares to investor concerns that higher interest rates could curb spending on AI infrastructure, particularly by data center operators.
The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index was last up about 2%, putting it on course to end an eight-day losing streak, Reuters reported. But the rebound did not extend to every AI-linked stock: CoreWeave had given back earlier gains following a Goldman Sachs upgrade and was last down more than 1.5%.
Oil had also changed direction during the day. Reuters' late-afternoon update said U.S. crude had reversed earlier losses and was rising about 2.3%, to nearly $104 a barrel. Meta and Tesla were due to report earnings Wednesday. With more technology results ahead, Rosenblatt Securities trader Michael James cautioned that the market was "far from out of the woods."
Comments