NEW YORK, December 29, 2025, 14:06 ET — Regular session
- Nvidia led a pullback in AI-linked stocks after Intel disclosed it completed a $5 billion share sale to the chip designer. 1
- Broadcom, Palantir and other AI bellwethers also fell as year-end, holiday-thinned trading kept moves choppy. 2
- Investors are watching Federal Reserve minutes and weekly jobless claims later this week for fresh clues on the rate outlook. 2
Artificial intelligence (AI) stocks slipped on Monday afternoon, with Nvidia down about 1.7% after Intel said it had completed a $5 billion private share sale to the chip designer. 1
The move matters now because a small group of AI-heavyweights has driven much of the market’s momentum, leaving investors quick to adjust risk when the leaders wobble.
Trading has also turned thin in the holiday week, a setup that can exaggerate swings when big funds rebalance portfolios into year-end, Reuters reported. 2
In a Form 8-K, Intel said it issued and sold 214,776,632 shares to Nvidia at $23.28 per share, completing the transaction on Dec. 26 in a private placement — a direct sale to a single buyer rather than the open market. 1
Nvidia was last down about 1.7% at $187.33, while Intel was up roughly 0.25% at $36.29.
Other AI bellwethers were lower as well, with Broadcom down about 0.7%, Palantir off roughly 1.8% and AMD down about 0.2%.
“This is not the beginning of the end of the tech dominance, it’ll turn out to be a buying opportunity,” said Hank Smith, director and head of investment strategy at Haverford Trust. 2
Cloud and ad-platform stocks tied to AI spending also eased, with Microsoft down about 0.4%, Alphabet off roughly 0.3% and Meta down close to 1%.
The pullback comes as traders look for signs of a “Santa Claus rally” — the seasonal tendency for stocks to rise in the last five trading days of the year and the first two of January — even as tech leadership cools, Reuters reported. 2
What comes next is mostly macro: investors are watching minutes from the Fed’s prior meeting and weekly jobless claims in an otherwise light data week, Reuters said. 2
For AI stocks, the near-term question is whether buyers return once year-end selling and position-squaring passes, or whether profit-taking spreads after a strong run in the sector.
Intel said the share sale followed a securities purchase agreement signed in September, and it pointed to its earlier disclosure of the deal at that time. 1
