Dow jumps 328 points as Oracle and Nvidia deals boost tech sector

• US stocks rallied on Monday on new tech-sector deals and shifting investor sentiment.
• Oracle leaped after the company won its bid to partner with TikTok's US operations.
• Nvidia's announcement that it would purchase Arm Holdings from SoftBank in a $40 billion deal boosted semiconductor stocks including Micron and Qualcomm.
• Oil traded mostly lower after OPEC lowered its forecast for the commodity market's demand recovery. West Texas Intermediate crude fell as much as 1.4%, to $36.82 per barrel.
• Watch major indexes update live here.

US equities gained on Monday as a spate of deals fueled a tech-stock rally from recent lows. Apple, Facebook, and Tesla all climbed as investors turned back to mega-cap companies that have been slammed in recent weeks.

Oracle surged after the company confirmed that its partnership bid for TikTok's US operations was selected by ByteDance. The firm is expected to take a sizeable stake in the platform. News of the partnership came days before the White House's deadline for a deal.

Microsoft underperformed the tech sector after its offer to partner with TikTok was denied.

Here's where US indexes sat at the 4 p.m. ET market close on Monday:

• S&P 500: 3,383.53, up 1.3%
• Dow Jones industrial average: 27,993.33, up 1.2% (328 points)
• Nasdaq composite: 11,056.65, up 1.9%

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Semiconductor stocks such as Qualcomm, Micron, and TSMC gained after Nvidia said it would buy Arm Holdings from SoftBank in a $40 billion deal. The acquisition gives Nvidia a stronger foothold in the mobile-computing industry, as Arm designs the architecture for chips used in nearly all mobile devices.

In the healthcare sector, AstraZeneca resumed a phase-three trial in the UK after pausing it last week because of safety concerns. Gilead announced it would buy the biopharmaceutical firm Immunomedics for $21 billion; shares of the latter firm spiked on news of the deal.

The sports-betting platform DraftKings surged after announcing a deal to be ESPN's sole provider of daily fantasy sports and serve as ESPN's co-exclusive partner for gambling link-outs.

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Real-estate stocks gained the most through the session, followed closely by healthcare and tech names.

Energy stocks lagged amid oil-demand concerns. The industry giant BP said in a Monday report that fuel consumption might never return to pre-pandemic highs and could plunge as much as 60% by 2050.

The S&P 500 recently experienced its first back-to-back weekly losses since March. The benchmark sank through last week as investors dumped highly valued tech stocks in choppy sessions. The Cboe Volatility Index, or VIX, Wall Street's preferred gauge of expected market volatility, closed in on 30 on Friday, signaling that frothy price action could persist through the fall.

Still, the index's steady decline through September should soothe traders fearing another downturn, said Chris Larkin, the managing director of trading and investment product at E-Trade.

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"While price swings may be par for the course, traders keeping an eye on the VIX could have noticed that last week's sell-off may have been overdone — the market's fear gauge made a lower high suggesting there was less fear in the market despite the further decline in stock prices," he said.

Spot gold gained as much as 1.1%, to $1,962.56 per ounce. The US dollar weakened and Treasury yields climbed slightly.

Oil traded mostly lower after OPEC downgraded its demand outlook for the commodity market. West Texas Intermediate crude fell as much as 1.4%, to $36.82 per barrel. Brent crude, oil's international benchmark, dropped 1.3%, to $39.30 per barrel, at intraday lows.

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