Nvidia, AMD, Meta lead tech stock rally as tariff news, AI breakthroughs boost sector

Tech stocks were leading the US stock market rally on Monday, with headlines on more targeted tariff plans from President Donald Trump and a new AI breakthrough from Jack Ma’s Ant Group helping boost the sector to start the week.

Shares of Meta (META) and AMD (AMD) were each up better than 3% in early trade, while Nvidia (NVDA) stock rose as much as 2.3%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) was up 1.5% shortly after the market open.

Monday’s broad market rally followed reports late Sunday that Trump would narrow the number of US trading partners subject to reciprocal tariffs on April 2. The administration is also reportedly set to limit some industry-specific tariffs that were set to take effect, including those on cars and chips.

In the tech world, news early Monday out of China that Ant Group, the Jack Ma-backed tech conglomerate, has trained cheaper AI models using Chinese-made chips and those from AMD was the latest sign the AI race continues to push new boundaries.

Speaking last week at its GTC Conference, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said the introduction of lower-cost models — like those most notably put forth by China’s DeepSeek — shows the computing needs for AI are actually higher than previously thought. Nvidia’s chips are also subject to an export ban from the US in China.

Earlier this year, Nvidia stock fell over 16% in a single day after DeepSeek’s R1 model matched the performance of higher-cost AI models like those from OpenAI (OPAI.PVT) at a fraction of the cost.

In the weeks since these developments, the industry has seen similar breakthroughs in the same vein as that vocalized by Huang: These reflect the larger-than-imagined potential of even deeper AI investments rather than exposing the limits of current plans. (See also: Jevons Paradox.)

Also in tech news, a South Korean AI chip startup, FuriosaAI, reportedly rejected an $800 million offer from Meta. This both takes a potential headache away from Meta shareholders, who might have to price in regulatory overhangs and integration costs, and shows AI startups have plenty of confidence to explore the market independently.

Tech-specific developments, though a boost for the AI trade on the margins, still take a backseat to trade news. And though AI may not be the clearest fundamental winner or loser due to Trump’s tariffs, tech’s central role in the stock market rally since late-2022 has seen these stocks retain their leadership position on the way up and way down.

As Yahoo Finance’s Josh Schafer noted over the weekend, last week’s reaction to the Federal Reserve’s latest announcement made clear tariffs are — and will be — the key catalyst for markets in the coming weeks.

Fears about the health of the US economy, the outlook for corporate profits, and the direction of Fed policy have all taken a turn leading the daily market discussion during the S&P 500’s swift 10% pullback from its Feb. 19 record close.

But tariffs have become the clear catalyst in shaping investor sentiment and the market’s daily direction.

First, in their absence. And on Monday, as a positive presence.

“We are watching headline to headline,” Jay Woods, chief market strategist at Freedom Capital Markets, told Yahoo Finance last week. “And when didn’t we have headlines? We didn’t get any headlines out of Washington last Friday [March 14]. We didn’t get any headlines out of Washington last Monday [March 17]. Guess what we did? We rallied.”

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