US STOCKS-Nasdaq climbs over 1% as AI-linked stocks recover ahead of key earnings

Apple

Mon 17:16

    * Indexes up: Dow 0.18%, S&P 0.89%, Nasdaq 1.78%
    * CoreWeave gets a 'buy' rating from Goldman Sachs
    * Intel shares rise after J.P.Morgan upgrades to 'neutral'
    * Cleveland-Cliffs gains after Q3 profit beat

    (Updates to late-morning trade)
    By Tharuniyaa Lakshmi and Ragini Mathur
       Oct 19 (Reuters) - The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite led
Wall Street's gains on Monday as investors returned to
AI-related stocks following last week's bruising selloff, while
declining oil prices lent additional support ahead of key
corporate earnings reports.
    The benchmark S&P 500 and Nasdaq had posted their biggest
weekly drop since late June on Friday, as concerns that higher
interest rates could curb investments in AI infrastructure
weighed on technology stocks, particularly data center
operators.
    The selloff reflected mounting investor unease over how the
costly AI build-out will be financed, a question that has
increasingly pressured companies underpinning the US bull
market, which recently marked its fourth anniversary.
    CoreWeave  CRWV.O , which was at the center of last week's
selloff after its shares plunged more than 25% on worries over a
$50 billion debt load, climbed 3.1% on Monday. Goldman Sachs
upgraded the neocloud firm to "buy" from "neutral", saying the
recent selloff offers a buying opportunity.
    Peers Nebius  NBIS.O  and Iren  IREN.O  gained 4.7% and
6.5%, respectively.
    Chipmakers Broadcom  AVGO.O  climbed 3.2% and Micron  MU.O 
jumped 5.3%. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index  .SOX  rose
3.7%, putting it on course to end an eight-day losing streak,
its longest run of declines since October 2008.
    Amazon.com  AMZN.O  was up 5.2% after Morgan Stanley named
the e-commerce and cloud computing firm as its "top pick".
    "The main concern was CoreWeave and the potential for the
yields on their bonds going up and the liquidity issues there.
That certainly scared people," said Joe Saluzzi, co-head of
equity trading at Themis Trading.
    "Looks like this morning they've settled down, and I think
the trade still seems to have legs."
    Focus is now shifting to a busy week of corporate earnings,
with Meta  META.O  expected to beat Wall Street expectations on
Wednesday. Elon Musk-led Tesla's  TSLA.O  results are also due
that day, while SpaceX  SPCX.O  is scheduled to report on
Tuesday.
    At 11:42 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average  .DJI 
rose 91.03 points, or 0.18%, to 52,093.44. The S&P 500  .SPX 
gained 68.47 points, or 0.89%, to 7,727.91, while the Nasdaq
Composite  .IXIC  advanced 463.92 points, or 1.78%, to
26,603.96.
    The session coincides with the 39th anniversary of Black
Monday, the 1987 crash that marked the biggest one-day decline
in the history of Dow Jones Industrial Average.
    Of the 11 S&P 500 constituents, five posted losses. However,
consumer discretionary  .SPLRCT  and technology group  .SPLRCT 
led the gains, up 2.8% and 2.2%, respectively.
    Brent futures  LCOc1  were last down 1.7% at around $108 a
barrel, following US President Donald Trump's decision to waive
some sanctions on Russia.  O/R 
    Intel  INTC.O  shares rose 5.8% after J.P.Morgan upgraded
the stock to "neutral" from "underweight."
    Cleveland-Cliffs  CLF.N  surged 15.6% after the steelmaker
surpassed analysts' estimate for third-quarter profit.
    Declining issues outnumbered advancers by 1.11-to-1 ratio on
the NYSE, while advancing issues outnumbered decliners by
1.28-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
    The S&P 500 posted 10 new 52-week highs and two new lows,
and the Nasdaq Composite recorded 20 new highs and 242 new lows.

    (Reporting by Tharuniyaa Lakshmi and Ragini Mathur in
Bengaluru; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar)
 ((tharuniyaa@thomsonreuters.com))