Wall Street ends higher as traders return to AI stocks

STORY: Wall Street's main indexes ended higher on Monday, with the Dow gaining more than eight-tenths of a percent, the S&P 500 adding one percent and the Nasdaq climbing nearly one-and-a-quarter percent.:: FileOil prices dropped modestly after the U.S. said it would be "fine" with some Iranian, Indian and Chinese ships moving through the Strait of Hormuz, offering investors some relief.Ross Mayfield is investment strategist at Baird Private Wealth Management.“I think the market is pretty desperate for signs of de-escalation. And we've gotten enough hints from the administration that they recognize the move in oil prices, the move in gasoline prices, the move higher in yields is untenable, that it would not be a good thing for this administration to have happened in a midterm election year. And so we're getting the drip of information that they want de-escalation that we're moving towards reopening the Strait of Hormuz. Whether that's true or not, you know, the market really wants that news."Among individual movers, AI-related stocks flexed some muscle, with Meta gaining more than 2%. The move higher came after Reuters reported that the Facebook parent plans to shrink its workforce by at least 20% to offset costly AI infrastructure bets and prepare for greater efficiency brought about by AI-assisted workers.::NvidiaShares of Nvidia ended higher after CEO Jensen Huang unveiled a new central processor at the chipmaker's annual developer conference.And shares of Micron Technology jumped more than 3.5% after the memory chipmaker announced plans for a second manufacturing facility in Taiwan.Outside of tech, travel stocks Delta Air Lines and Norwegian Cruise Line rose 3.5% and 5%, respectively, lifted by lower oil prices.And shares of Dollar Tree rose more than 6% after the discount retailer signaled it could benefit from favorable tariffs in the near term.Investors now turn their attention to the Federal Reserve's two-day policy meeting, which concludes Wednesday, at which the central bank is expected to leave interest rates unchanged.