The ​Dow Jones Industrial Average added 95.31 points, or ​0.19%, to 49,704.47, the S&P 500 ⁠advanced 13.91 points, or 0.19%, to 7,412.84 and the Nasdaq Composite rose 27.05 points, or 0.10%, to 26,274.13

U.S. stocks ended slightly higher on Monday, with AI optimism fuelling upward momentum even as the earnings-driven fervour of the ​recent rally eased in the reporting season and as crude prices rose, stoking inflation worries as Iran-U.S. peace negotiations stalled.

All three major U.S. stock indexes rose and the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq eked out their latest in a series of all-time closing highs.

The ​Dow Jones Industrial Average added 95.31 points, or ​0.19%, to 49,704.47, the S&P 500 ⁠advanced 13.91 points, or 0.19%, to 7,412.84 and the Nasdaq Composite rose 27.05 points, or 0.10%, to 26,274.13.

Semiconductors outperformed other sectors, with the PHLX Semiconductor index climbing 2.6%, suggesting the AI wave is showing few signs of abating.

The semis and AI infrastructure trade has taken on a life entirely of its own, said Ross Mayfield, investment strategy analyst at Baird in Louisville, Kentucky. And there’s so much momentum and chasing to get in on ​some of these names that it seems almost somewhat divorced from any sort of like headline or announcement.

But some market watchers believe the rally is about to run ​out of momentum.

Investor Michael Burry warned on Monday that stocks are likely about to crash. In a post on his Substack, Burry, one ⁠of the biggest winners of the 2008 financial meltdown, said that the 2026 rally in tech stocks is about to end with a thud. The market has jumped the shark, he wrote.

First-quarter ​reporting period is nearing the finish line, with 440 of the companies in the S&P 500 having reported. Of those, 83% have topped earnings expectations, according to LSEG IBES.

As of Friday, ​analysts estimated first-quarter S&P 500 earnings growth, on aggregate, of 28.6% year-on-year. That’s nearly double the 14.4% first-quarter growth estimates as of April 1.

The strength of the rally largely is a function of earnings growth, which is superb, said Terry Sandven, chief equity strategist at U.S. Bank Wealth Management in Minneapolis.

Market watchers are looking ahead to next week, when the big-box retailers report, to get a sense of if there’s any change ​in consumer spending behaviour following, you know, elevated prices at the gas pump, Sandven said.

But as earnings season nears the finish line, focus returns to macroeconomics and geopolitical developments.