CNBC Daily Open: Surge in most tech lifts the S&P 500 beyond 6,600 level

Congratulations are due to Alphabet for joining the $3 trillion club, to which only Apple, Microsoft and Nvidia have memberships. The Google parent has artificial intelligence —what else? — to thank for its inclusion in that rarefied space.

Ironically, it isn’t because Google’s AI offerings have been blowing investors away. (I heard Gemini can teach me how to take better photos on Google’s Pixel smartphone.) It’s the fact that Google has been falling behind AI companies such as OpenAI and Perplexity — which allowed it to escape divesting its Chrome browser in a recent antitrust ruling — that gave its shares a nice bump this month

If AI isn’t having the desired effect on stocks, there’s nothing that good old cash won’t solve. Tesla shares jumped Monday after its CEO Elon Musk disclosed a $1 billion purchase of the stock, erasing the company’s losses for the year. Elsewhere, shares of CoreWeave popped 7.6% after the cloud infrastructure provider announced an order of at least $6.3 billion from Nvidia.

Buoyed by those gains, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite secured new closing highs, with the former exceeding the 6,600 level for the first time. Hey Alexa, create an image of traders popping champagne in the New York Stock Exchange.

U.S. has reached TikTok ‘framework’ with China. The deal involves “two private parties,” U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Monday. The presidents of both nations will meet Friday to discuss the terms.

Elon Musk reveals $1 billion stock purchase of Tesla. It’s the first time since February 2020 that Musk, CEO of Tesla, has bought shares of the company in the open market. Tesla shares jumped 3.6% after what looks to be a vote of confidence from Musk.

Alphabet’s valuation hits $3 trillion. After its shares rose 4.5%, the search giant joined the ranks of Nvidia, Microsoft and Apple. Alphabet stock experienced a significant bump in early September after a ruling from a judge in an antitrust case.

The S&P 500 closes above 6,600 for the first time. On Monday, the Nasdaq Composite also closed at a fresh record, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average ticked up 0.1%. Europe’s Stoxx 600 index added 0.42%.

[PRO] A rate cut might not be unambiguously good for stocks. According to Evercore ISI, historical data from 1970 showed that the nature of the cut — “because they can” or “because they have to” — affects how stocks perform the year ahead.