The tech rally that has dominated markets this year accelerated Monday, pushing the Nasdaq to a record high after Advanced Micro Devices announced a multiyear chip supply arrangement with OpenAI. AMD shares jumped 27% in the session, vaulting the chipmaker into the spotlight as investors priced in a larger-than-expected revenue stream tied to artificial-intelligence infrastructure. By 1:46 p.m. EDT, the Nasdaq was up roughly 0.7% on the day, while the S&P 500 and Dow eked out modest gains, extending a string of weekly advances that recently reached at least 1% for the major indexes.

Analysts said the AMD-OpenAI pact reshapes the competitive landscape for data-center processors, a market long dominated by Nvidia. "This is about volume and customization," said Emma Lawson, chief investment officer at Meridian Wealth. "AMD is not only selling chips; it's selling the scalability that large AI models need. That has direct revenue and margin implications that investors reward."

Nvidia shares were slightly lower on the news as traders recalibrated profit expectations for the dominant AI chip supplier. The market reaction underscored a broader reallocation of capital within the technology sector: winners tied to AI hardware and cloud infrastructure have attracted outsized flows, while other big-cap tech names have lagged in recent sessions.

Market participants also shrugged off the threat of a U.S. government shutdown. "Investors are treating the shutdown risk as transient," said Liam Parker, head of macro strategy at Horizon Investments. "Positioning suggests people are focusing on corporate earnings and the AI cycle rather than short-term fiscal standoffs."

That positioning showed up in unconventional ways. According to Investopedia and market data, both gold and bitcoin traded at fresh records Monday, an unusual concurrence that highlights investor appetite for both growth and alternative stores of value. Precious metals and cryptocurrencies typically attract flows during inflation worries or geopolitical stress, but this week their strength coincided with risk-asset rallies, suggesting a bifurcated market view: some traders chase high-growth tech exposures while others hedge with real assets and digital gold.

The backdrop of monetary policy continues to inform trading. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's first public remarks since last month's rate cut remain a reference point for investors assessing how quickly policy will normalize. Data this week on inflation and employment could tilt expectations, but for now the market appears comfortable that a modest easing of policy supports equity valuations, particularly for long-duration tech earnings.

Corporate governance news provided another headline: Verizon named former PayPal chief Dan Schulman as its new CEO effective immediately, saying outgoing executive Vestberg will serve as special adviser through Oct. 4, 2026, and remain on the board until the 2026 annual meeting. Verizon said the advisory period will focus on integrating Frontier Communications after the deal closes, expected in the first quarter of 2026. Telecom stocks registered only muted reactions to the leadership change.

Investors will be watching whether the AI-driven rotation into chipmakers and cloud suppliers sustains through earnings season, and whether concurrent strength in gold and bitcoin signals a durable shift in portfolio construction or a short-lived bifurcation of market sentiment.