The S&P 500 hit another record on Monday after Nvidia said it’s putting $100 billion into OpenAI, driving a fresh wave of AI hype through markets. Nvidia’s stock exploded to $184.55, the highest it’s ever traded, and gained $200 billion in market value in under an hour. The surge came as the Nasdaq Composite added 0.6%, the Dow Jones rose 117 points, and the S&P 500 itself climbed 0.5%. All three major indexes posted all-time intraday highs during the session. This update is based on reporting from Yahoo Finance. The excitement didn’t stop at equities. The Volatility Index (VIX) jumped 3%. Gold also hit a record, while U.S. Treasury yields turned green. Traders were watching all of it unfold in real time. The scale of Nvidia’s investment shocked the market. Nobody expected a $100 billion announcement tied to OpenAI in the middle of September, but the move immediately repositioned the company as the centerpiece of the next AI wave. Washington gridlock threatens market momentum The energy on Wall Street was real, but a political mess is building in the background. Congress still hasn’t passed a funding bill, and the risk of a government shutdown is rising. Last week, the Senate threw out both Republican and Democrat-backed proposals to temporarily keep the lights on. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer has now asked President Donald Trump to meet with lawmakers and cut a deal. The deadline to avoid a shutdown is September 30, and nobody’s blinking yet. Markets already had a strong week going into Monday. The three major indexes were all coming off record weekly closes. The Russell 2000 also made headlines after reaching its first all-time high since November 2021. That bounce came after the Federal Reserve lowered rates by 0.25%, the first cut since December. Traders think two more rate cuts are coming before the year ends, according to the CME Group’s FedWatch tool. Still, this stretch of the year isn’t usually great for the S&P 500. Citadel data shows this week is historically the weakest for the index. On top of the shutdown drama and the AI noise, the market is also waiting on the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge, the personal consumption expenditures price index. Economists expect it to show tame inflation. If that holds, the Fed might keep its current policy unchanged. Crypto traders liquidated as assets plunge While stocks were breaking records, crypto traders were getting wiped out. The total crypto market cap dropped under $4 trillion Sunday night, and by Monday, nearly every major coin was down. Bitcoin slid 3%, Ether lost 6%, Solana dropped 7%, and both Dogecoin and World Liberty Financial (WLF) dumped 10%. The pain was worse in derivatives. Over $1.7 billion in positions were liquidated Sunday night. And 94% of that was from bullish bets. The single biggest position—worth $12.7 million—got wiped out on OKX, one of the busiest crypto exchanges. Ether bulls took the hardest hit, with over $500 million in liquidations. Bitcoin traders lost around $280 million. This all followed the Fed’s announcement last week that it would reduce its short-term interest rate by 0.25%. That was expected, but it didn’t stop the selling. The cut wasn’t enough to keep the momentum going, and a lot of positions got caught off guard. Companies with big crypto holdings also took a hit. There are now more than 180 public companies with Bitcoin on their balance sheets. Many of them got in to chase the kind of gains Michael Saylor’s firm, Strategy (MSTR), saw earlier in the year. But with prices falling, they’re all under pressure. KEY Difference Wire helps crypto brands break through and dominate headlines fast
