US Stocks Today: Nasdaq +1%, S&P 500 Rebounds as Dow Defends 50,000

After a turbulent stretch that tested risk appetite across Wall Street, US stocks turned higher Monday as investors looked past last week’s whipsaw and back toward a packed run of economic data and earnings. The rebound had a clear message: buyers are still willing to step in, but they’re doing it selectively — and mostly where the market feels it has the strongest narrative and the strongest balance sheets.

The Nasdaq’s outperformance came as megacap tech regained traction, while the Dow hovered close to unchanged, holding above the 50,000 line that has become both a milestone and a magnet for headlines. The S&P 500 moved higher too, a sign that the bounce wasn’t limited to a handful of names — but the day’s tone still felt like a market scanning for certainty rather than celebrating.

A major undercurrent was the market’s ongoing debate over AI and the durability of software business models. The latest flashpoint was Monday.com, which dropped sharply after issuing guidance that investors viewed as a miss, resetting expectations and reigniting questions about pricing power, competitive pressure, and how quickly AI tools could reshape workflows. The move landed like a warning shot: even when quarterly results look fine, forward guidance is where confidence is being won — or lost.

Cross-asset signals stayed noisy. Gold climbed back above $5,000 an ounce, regaining a psychological line after last week’s sharp moves, while bitcoin slipped back below $69,000 after a violent drop late last week. Taken together, the message is that investors are still hedging — not necessarily abandoning risk, but keeping one foot planted in defensives as the calendar brings macro catalysts.

That calendar is now the market’s main scoreboard. The delayed January US jobs report is due Wednesday, and traders will be watching whether the labor market shows additional signs of strain. Friday’s consumer inflation release adds another high-stakes checkpoint: any surprise up or down can quickly ripple through rate expectations, equity multiples, and the relative appeal of cash versus stocks.

For market bulls, Monday’s rebound is encouraging because it suggests dip-buyers remain active — particularly in the highest-quality tech names. For skeptics, the Monday.com selloff is the reminder that sentiment can still turn fast, and that “good enough” results won’t always be enough when guidance, competition, and disruption risk dominate the narrative.

In other words, the next move may not come from the charts — it may come from the data and the outlooks. With jobs and inflation due, plus big earnings on deck, Wall Street has shifted into a mode where every release feels like a referendum on whether the rebound is a trend, or simply a pause in the turbulence.