U.S. Stocks Post Longest Winning Streak in Nearly a Year as AI Sector Continues to Lead
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The S&P 500 rose for a ninth straight session — its longest streak since May 2025 — as AI baskets surged over 650 basis points in a single day, while Bitcoin broke below $66,000 in a sharp divergence from tech.
What is driving this winning streak?
Tuesday's U.S. JOLTS job-openings data came in well above expectations, pushing the macro surprise index to its highest since November 2023.
The quit rate declined at the same time. This means → the labor market is still tight, but workers are less willing to switch jobs — a fresh data point supporting the "soft landing" narrative.
Goldman Sachs traders flagged a large capital raise this week that drove semiconductors and AI names higher, calling it the key catalyst for the current rally.
How big was the AI move?
Goldman's AI hedge-fund long basket (GSPUARTI) jumped roughly 650 basis points on the day; data-center theme rose about 470 bps; AI semiconductors gained about 320 bps.
The momentum factor staged its best single-day rebound since 2021.
In plain terms = money piled into anything AI-adjacent, and the closer a name sits to AI, the bigger its gain.
Who got sold off on the same day?
Healthcare saw extreme selling: Goldman's healthcare hedge-fund VIP basket fell roughly 6% — a move of about 4.5 standard deviations (statistically very rare). ABVX dropped 39%, CELC 23%, PRAX 11%.
Exchange stocks came under pressure too: CBOE fell 8.4%, Nasdaq Inc. (NDAQ) 5.4%, CME 3.25%, ICE 2.85%. This means → the market is pricing in the potential threat that perpetual futures — contracts with no expiry, common in crypto — pose to traditional exchange business models.
Small-caps actually outperformed large-caps; the S&P 500 lagged the broader market on the day.
Why did Bitcoin move opposite to tech?
Bitcoin sold off hard, breaking key technical support and hitting a two-month low near $66,000 — a complete divergence from tech stocks.
Ethereum outperformed Bitcoin on a relative basis. This reflects a split within crypto itself; capital is not fleeing uniformly.
Meanwhile, the software ETF IGV has seen unusually strong demand — over $400 million in net inflows on a single day, six straight sessions of net subscriptions, and AUM more than doubling since early March. Call-option volume on IGV hit an all-time high of 280,000 contracts last Friday.
Why did oil fall and then rally in the same session?
WTI crude tested $94/barrel intraday after earlier dipping below $90 — an enormous intraday swing.
The driver was contradictory signals around the Strait of Hormuz, which carries roughly one-fifth of global crude and LNG flows in peacetime. Trump told ABC News a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Iran to reopen the strait could come "within the next week," but added there are still "a few sticking points." Iranian state media then cast doubt on the talks, and AFP reported Hezbollah rejected a partial ceasefire with Israel — fully erasing the early-session dip in crude.
Goldman's co-head of commodities research Daan Struyven told Bloomberg TV: "Clients are exhausted — headlines whip prices around, and oil positioning has shrunk significantly from the start of the year." Global benchmark open interest fell to its lowest since August, and Dated Brent slipped below the front-month futures price for the first time since mid-March. In plain terms = the physical oil market is becoming less tight.
Content is for reference only, not financial advice.