Oil-fueled rotation lifts the Dow while chip selloff weighs on the Nasdaq

Stocks chopped into the close as rising crude and a memory‑chip slump split the tape: the Dow rose, the S&P 500 was little changed, and the Nasdaq slipped, with traders staying cautious ahead of midweek inflation data and the bank-earnings kickoff while the bond market was shut for the holiday.

Key Headlines & Market Movers

Oil’s jump revives inflation nerves and powers defensives: Crude pushed higher—helped by geopolitical headlines out of Saudi Arabia—nudging energy shares and other defensives up even as growth stocks lagged. The move sharpened focus on inflation prints due midweek, with investors wary that higher fuel costs could keep price pressures sticky. With Treasurys closed for the holiday, equity traders had one less signal on rates and kept risk-taking modest.

Memory-led chip slide cools the AI trade: A selloff in storage and memory names—Micron, Seagate and peers—dragged semiconductors and the broader tech complex, pressuring the Nasdaq. Sentiment around memory was hit by competitive and supply headlines, and the weakness spilled into AI-adjacent hardware. Big Tech was mixed, with some megacaps up while Nvidia and others slipped, underscoring a rotation under the surface.

Quiet tape into banks and CPI; Dow leans on single‑name strength: With the bond market closed, equities traded without the usual yield cue and volumes stayed muted. The Dow outperformed, helped by idiosyncratic winners like Salesforce after a broker upgrade, while the broader market marked time ahead of inflation data. Overall, positioning stayed cautious, leaving the S&P near flat on the day.

Attention turns to the big banks Tuesday and CPI Wednesday; watch whether oil’s rise and the reopening of Treasury trading reprice rate expectations—and whether semis can stabilize to keep the broader uptrend on track.

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