Stocks Kick Off Holiday-Shortened Week with a Bang

The tech sector rebound is extending into the holiday-shortened week, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) and Nasdaq Composite (IXIC) up triple digits midday, while the S&P 500 Index (SPX) sits firmly higher as well. Bolstering sentiment is a report out of Reuters that indicated Nvidia (NVDA) plans to begin H200 chip shipments to China by February. Gold and silver both hit record highs today, while oil prices are also climbing, as the U.S. ramps up its campaign against sanctioned tankers entering or leaving Venezuela. 

PepsiCo Inc (NASDAQ:PEP) is one of the most popular stocks in the options pits today, with 46,000 calls and 43,000 puts exchanged so far -- nine times the stock's average daily options volume already. The January 2026 135-strike put is the most popular contract, followed by the January 2026 135-strike put. The reason for today's options surge isn't immediately clear, but PEP is fresh off four-straight losses, and has been discussed amongst investors, including Yahoo Finance today, as a potential buy for 2026. PEP is down 2.6% in 2025, but sports firm support at its 120-day moving average. 

Paramount Skydance Corp (NASDAQ:PSKY) is in the spotlight once again, after news that Oracle's (ORCL) Larry Ellison is backing the company's bid to acquire Warner Bros (WBD) with an added $40.4 billion in equity financing. PSKY was last seen up 7.6% to trade at $14.04, rebounding from last session's six-month lows. Year to date, the equity is up 34.3%. 

Dominion Energy Inc (NYSE:D) was last seen down 4.5% at $56.77, eyeing its worst daily drop since April 4. Reports have surfaced that the $10.7 billion wind project off the coast of Virginia Beach is among the five projects paused by President Donald Trump, due to potential interference with military radar systems. Since the start of the year, Dominion stock is up 5.9%.