Nvidia's (NVDA) stock didn't do too much on day one of its GTC conference despite an impressive array of new product introductions.

But that doesn't mean what the company unveiled was disappointing, quite the contrary! I actually think everything Jensen Huang showed off is so complex, it could take a few days for investors to digest and assess if the stock warrants another push higher.

Wall Street was pleased with what they heard.

Here's what JP Morgan analyst Harlan Sur had to say:

"Overall, the team is further distancing itself with its aggressive cadence of new product launches and more product segmentation over time. With leading silicon (GPU/DPU/CPU), hardware/software platforms, and a strong ecosystem, Nvidia is well positioned to continue to benefit from major secular trends in AI, high-performance computing, gaming, and autonomous vehicles, in our view. Bottom line: NVIDIA continues to be 1-2 steps ahead of its competitors."

As Nvidia's (NVDA) GTC conference continues out on the West Coast, it feels natural for BofA's new fund manager survey out today to weigh into the AI stock bubble debate.

The end result: institutional investors have no clue if this is a bubble!

The major averages closed higher on Monday, led by Technology and Communication Services stocks ahead of the start of a two-day Fed policy meeting on Tuesday.

The S&P 500 (^GSPC) gained 0.6%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) surged 0.8%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) added roughly 0.2%.

Tech stocks led the gains in anticipation of chipmaker Nvidia's (NVDA) developer conference on Monday. Alphabet (GOOG, GOOGL) soared 4.6% after a Bloomberg report that Apple (AAPL) is in talks to build Google's Gemini AI engine into its next iPhone.

Tesla (TSLA) stock closed up more than 6%, its biggest gain in six months after the EV maker announced price hikes for its Model Y vehicles in the US and some European countries.

Tesla stock was trading near session highs on Monday afternoon, up more than 6%.

Shares of the EV maker jumped after the company announced $1,000 price hikes for its Model Y vehicles in the US starting April 1.

Over the weekend Tesla said it will raise the price tag amount on Model Y vehicles in some European countries by about 2,000 euros, or $2,177 starting March 22.

Despite Monday's surge, Tesla shares are down about 29% year to date amid an EV growth slowdown.

Oil futures jumped as much as 2% on Monday amid signs of strong demand stemming out of China and lower exports from Iraq and Saudi Arabia.

West Texas Intermediate (CL=F) settled about 2% higher at $82.72 per barrel while Brent (BZ=F) futures increased more than 1.5% to close at $86.89 per barrel.

Iraq said it would cut exports in the months ahead to compensate for producing above its OPEC+ quotas, indicating increasing demand in the market. Data released on Monday showed Saudi Arabia's crude exports declined for a second month in a row in January.

Oil gained last week amid falling US inventories and Ukrainian drone attacks on Russian refineries.

"Crude pushing to the highest level since last November on ideas Chinas economy is recovering at the same time Russian crude & fuel exports," Dennis Kissler, senior vice president at BOK Financial, said on Monday.

Alphabet (GOOGL, GOOG)

Alphabet stock was soaring 6% on Monday after a Bloomberg report stated the tech giant is "in active negotiations" with Apple (AAPL) to license Google's Gemini chatbot for the iPhone.

Alphabet shares are up roughly 7% year to date.

Tilray (TLRY)

Tilray Brands shares jumped 15%, adding to Friday's gains on optimism over the prospects of rescheduling marijuana, or moving the substance to a less restrictive classification.

On Friday Vice President Kamala Harris hosted a cannabis reform event, calling for a reclassification of marijuana.

A rescheduling would be expected to alleviate certain tax burdens on cannabis companies.

Canoo (GOEV)

Shares of Canoo soared 75% on Monday after the electric vehicle maker said the Department of Commerce approved its Oklahoma City facility as a Foreign Trade Zone (FTZ), allowing for the elimination or deferral of customs duties.

The company noted the FTZ approval "marks a significant milestone that will accelerate Canoo’s Made in America electric vehicle manufacturing strategy, improve unit profitability and enable a faster path to breakeven."

Canoo says it sources more than 90% of its parts from the US and allied nations.

Disney (DIS) secured yet another key backer in its high-profile battle against activist investor Nelson Peltz.

In a paper published on Monday and viewed by Yahoo Finance, proxy advisory firm Glass Lewis recommended shareholders support the company's current board and withhold votes for the nominees put forth by Peltz's Trian Fund Management and fellow activist Blackwells Capital.

"We believe investors would be best served endorsing the incumbent directors at this time," Glass Lewis wrote in its recommendation, adding it's "not convinced" the alternative candidates and proposals would deliver "a superior change relative to Disney's current composition."

Peltz is currently seeking board seats for himself, along with former Disney CFO Jay Rasulo. Blackwells supports the company's current board but has urged shareholders to vote for its three nominees as additions to it.

If the proxy battle continues to a vote, a shareholder meeting set to take place on April 3 will ultimately determine the board's fate.

Last year, Peltz and his hedge fund renewed a push to shake up Disney's board as the stock price hit multiyear lows.

Disney has been grappling with challenges that include a declining linear TV business, slower growth in its parks business, and losses in its streaming business.

Although Glass Lewis did point to those challenges, which have also included a high-profile political battle with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and concerns surrounding succession, the firm said CEO Bob Iger's recent initiatives to turn around the business have delivered positive results.

"Most recent reported quarters suggest these efforts do, indeed, have promise, which we believe substantially raises the bar for change at this time," Glass Lewis said.

Read more here.

Rivian (RIVN) stock jumped more than 3% on Monday after the electric vehicle maker confirmed in a blog post owners can now access the Tesla (TSLA) Supercharger network, adding another automaker to Tesla's charging business

Yahoo Finance's Pras Subramanian reports:

Starting at 12:00 p.m. Eastern time, Rivian owners were now able to use Tesla Superchargers equipped with an NACS (North American Charging Standard) plug by attaching a complimentary adapter issued by Rivian or by using a certified NACS to CCS1 (Combined Charging Standard) adapter to plug into their Rivian EVs to charge. Note that a Rivian spokesperson confirmed with Yahoo Finance the 12 p.m. ET start time, as that was not revealed in the company's blog post.

Read more here:

Hertz (HTZ) stock sank as much as 8% to a record low before paring losses on Monday as investors digested yet another leadership change at the car rental company.

On Friday Hertz announced CEO Stephen Scherr will step down after holding the position since February 2022. He will be replaced by Gil West, former chief operating officer of Delta Airlines.

"Scherr’s departure suggests HTZ faces greater operational challenges that need a more ‘hands on’ approach to execution,” noted Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Jonas. The firm has an Equal Weight rating on the stock with a $10 price target.

The leadership change comes after a reversal in Hertz's electric vehicle strategy. In January the rental company said it would sell 20,000 EVs, or about a third of its fleet, in a shift back to gas-powered vehicles.

Hertz has had multiple CEOs since 2014. In 2021, the company emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy and went public again on the Nasdaq with symbol HTZ.

In 2021, Hertz outlined plans to electrify its entire fleet and said it would order up to 100,000 Tesla Model 3 sedans.

Goldman Sachs believes the US economy will grow faster than it originally expected this year as increased immigration adds more workers to the US labor force.

In a new research note on Sunday, Goldman cited increased immigration when raising its forecast for economic growth year over year in the fourth quarter to 2.4% from 2.1%. For the full year, Goldman now sees the US economy growing at a 2.7% annualized rate.

"One likely reason why GDP growth was stronger in 2023 is that immigration ran well above the recent historical average, boosting the size of the labor force and potential GDP," Goldman Sachs economist Ronnie Walker wrote in a research note on Sunday. "We have updated our payrolls and GDP forecasts to incorporate the ongoing boost from above-trend immigration."

Goldman's research suggests that immigration was 1.5 million above trend in 2023 and will come in 1 million above trend in 2024. To the team at Goldman, this helps explain the surprise job creation seen in the labor market over the last year, as well as the higher-than-expected growth seen across the economy.

Read more here.

Homebuilders are more confident about the housing market amid softening mortgage rates and limited supply.

Yahoo Finance's Dani Romero reports:

The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI) rose three points to 51 in March, marking the fourth consecutive month that sentiment gained and the highest level since July 2023. Economists polled by Bloomberg were anticipating a reading of 48.

The March reading is the first time that the sentiment level broke past 50 since last July. Any number over 50 indicates that more builders view conditions as good than poor.

Read more here.

Tech stocks led the gains on Monday as Nvidia (NVDA) shares spiked 4% ahead of the chipmaker's developer conference.

Meanwhile Alphabet (GOOG, GOOGL) stock surged roughly 6% on a report that Apple (AAPL) will be using Google's Gemini AI engine for its next iPhone. Apple shares gained about 2.5% on Monday.

Among the other "Magnificent Seven" stocks, Tesla (TSLA) rose about 2.5%, while Meta (META) gained 1%. Microsoft (MSFT) and Amazon (AMZN) each rose less than 1%.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) was up 1.5% during Monday's session, outperforming the other major averages.

Stocks opened higher on Monday ahead of a key Federal Reserve policy meeting, buoyed by gains for Nvidia amid continued AI enthusiasm.

The S&P 500 (^GSPC) added roughly 0.9%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) rose 1.3%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) gained 0.4%.

Nvidia (NVDA) shares rose 4% as the chipmaker kicked off its annual conference on Monday. Alphabet (GOOG, GOOGL) stock popped more than 5% on a report that Apple (AAPL) is in talks to build Google's Gemini AI engine into its next iPhone.

Investors are keeping a watchful eye on the Federal Reserve's March meeting starting Tuesday. They'll be listening for clues on when policymakers expect to cut rates in 2024. The market widely anticipates the Fed will keep rates unchanged at a 23-year high in its decision on Wednesday.

With investors obsessed with Nvidia (NVDA) and the Magnificent Seven, they may have forgotten about their former favorite — FAANG (a refresher on FAANG) component Netflix (NFLX).

Not everyone has forgotten about the streaming beast: The stock is up 23% since its fourth quarter earnings report!

I liked a couple of the callouts from JP Morgan analyst Doug Anmuth in a new note this morning.

First was his reasoning behind staying bullish on Netflix shares.

And then his brief analysis on the upcoming Mike Tyson vs. Jake Paul fight on Netflix:

Ask most holders of Nvidia's (NVDA) stock what the company does and they will probably say "chipmaker."

But that definition may change this week after Nvidia's GTC conference, which starts today. And it has to change if Nvidia's market cap is to continue to expand beyond its eye-popping $2.2 trillion level seen today.

Good point on this front from Stifel's tech analyst Ruben Roy:

Coverage reminder

Yahoo Finance's resident Nvidia expert — Tech Editor Dan Howley — is stationed at GTC. Be sure to follow his reporting on our platform and on X @DanielHowley. Give his GTC preview a read here.