Meta Platforms surged 12% on Monday as options traders flooded into the stock following strong early downloads of its Muse AI assistant, helping lift the S&P 500 to its best session since August 4.
Meta Platforms shares climbed 12% on Monday, leading a broad rally in technology stocks as investors repositioned around the company's new artificial intelligence personal assistant, Muse, sending options activity to roughly 4.5 times its 30-day average.
The S&P 500 rose 1.5% on the session — its best single-day performance since August 4 — while the Nasdaq Composite jumped 2.3% to close at its first record since June. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 366 points, or 0.7%.
Meta's advance brought the stock to within 7% of its all-time high set in August 2025, extending what is now a 21% rally since the company revealed details of Muse. The company also announced plans to develop a subsea cable named Petal, designed to carry data across the Atlantic Ocean.
Muse has been available for roughly two weeks, and analytics firm Sensor Tower tracked 730,000 downloads in approximately five days after the app's September 8 launch, according to data cited in prior reporting.
Options market activity reflected the enthusiasm. Nearly $3.9 billion in total premium changed hands in Meta contracts Monday, according to Cboe LiveVol and SpotGamma data. More than twice as many calls were likely bought versus puts, and seven of the top ten trades were either bullish or neutral.
"The inflows in options are huge," said Brent Kochuba, founder of options analytics platform SpotGamma. "It seems like AI hype around their Muse."
More than $1.3 billion in call premium was likely initiated by call-buyers, with about $1.1 billion tied to selling, SpotGamma data show — a pattern suggesting a bullish lean balanced by upside hedging. The most actively traded contracts were zero-day-to-expiry options with strikes ranging from 720 to 745, while heavy volume also appeared in 775- and 800-strike contracts expiring in mid-October. The session's largest dollar-size trade appeared to be a net roughly $20 million short position built around the sale of a one-by-two 710/765-strike call spread expiring October 16.
The broader AI-driven rally also lifted chipmakers. Intel gained 12%, while Advanced Micro Devices rose approximately 10% — touching a $1 trillion market capitalization in the process. Nvidia advanced 2%, and fiber optic manufacturer Corning climbed nearly 6%.
Falling commodity and bond prices amplified the session's momentum. West Texas Intermediate crude futures dropped 4.5% to $95.78 a barrel, while international Brent settled more than 3% lower at $100.34 per barrel. The decline came partly after reports that President Donald Trump had decided against striking Yemen for now and signaled openness to diplomacy with Iran. The 10-year Treasury note yield slid more than 4 basis points to 4.951%.
Overnight, U.S. equity futures held near the flatline. S&P 500 futures added 0.02%, Nasdaq-100 futures gained 0.2%, and Dow futures edged up 4 points, or 0.01%.
Traders are also monitoring this week's summit in Washington between Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping, where artificial intelligence policy, tariffs, rare earth metals, and Iran-related sanctions are expected to feature prominently. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent met with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng ahead of Xi's arrival, telling CNBC he expects the existing tariff truce to be maintained.
Heading into Tuesday, market participants will watch the Richmond Federal Reserve's manufacturing survey alongside scheduled remarks from New York Fed President John Williams and Richmond Fed President Tom Barkin. AutoZone is set to report earnings in the morning, with KB Home following after the close.
Marc Sabatini is a staff writer at TechEchelon covering enterprise software, cybersecurity, and the regulatory beats that shape both. He focuses on the deal flow and policy decisions that move markets.
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