NVIDIA Surges 2.99% on $63.6B Trading Volume Highest of the Day Strategic Nokia Pact Drives AI-Telecom Ambitions

Market Snapshot

NVIDIA (NVDA) closed with a 2.99% gain on October 29, 2025, following a $63.61 billion trading volume—the highest of the day. The stock’s performance coincided with a broader surge in investor enthusiasm for AI infrastructure, driven by a landmark $1 billion investment in Nokia (NOK). While the immediate focus was on Nokia’s 22.8% share price jump, NVIDIA’s modest but sustained rally reflected confidence in its expanding ecosystem of partnerships and dominance in AI-driven technologies. The company’s elevated volume underscored market speculation about its strategic role in shaping next-generation telecommunications and data center innovations.

Key Drivers

The primary catalyst for NVIDIA’s performance was its $1 billion investment in Nokia, a 5G and 6G equipment manufacturer, announced on October 28. By acquiring a 2.9% stake through a directed share issuance at $6.01 per share, NVIDIA signaled a strategic pivot toward integrating its AI infrastructure with Nokia’s networking solutions. The partnership aims to accelerate the development of AI-powered radio access networks (RAN), with applications spanning edge computing, real-time data processing, and future 6G deployment. Analysts highlighted this move as a validation of Nokia’s pivot to AI and cloud infrastructure, positioning it as a critical player in the $200 billion RAN market by 2030.

The collaboration also extended beyond financial stakes. NVIDIA and Nokia agreed to explore synergies in data center technology, with plans to incorporate Nokia’s optical and switching capabilities into NVIDIA’s AI infrastructure designs. This alignment with AI-driven telecommunications infrastructure aligns with NVIDIA’s broader strategy to dominate the AI supercycle, leveraging its GPU expertise to power high-performance computing needs in next-generation networks. The partnership’s potential to reduce latency in AI-driven telecom applications further reinforced its appeal to investors, particularly as demand for 5G and 6G infrastructure accelerates.

Immediate market reactions were mixed. While Nokia’s shares surged over 20% on the news, reflecting optimism about the partnership’s long-term potential, NVIDIA’s stock saw a more moderate 1.7% increase. This disparity highlighted investor caution about the timeline for revenue generation, as Nokia’s CEO Justin Hotard noted commercial benefits would materialize starting in 2027. Analysts at Kepler Cheuvreux warned that the stock’s sharp rally might be excessive, given the multi-year horizon for tangible outcomes. Nevertheless, the investment was seen as a strategic hedge for NVIDIA against sector-specific risks, particularly as it diversifies into hardware and networking solutions beyond its core GPU business.

The deal also sparked cross-sector implications, particularly in AI-related crypto tokens. Historical correlations between NVIDIA announcements and gains in tokens like Render (RNDR) and Fetch.ai (FET) were cited as potential spillover effects. For instance, RNDR saw 15-20% gains following NVIDIA’s 2024 earnings beats, and FET’s 24-hour volume spiked 25% post-announcement. Traders monitoring NVIDIA’s price action noted support levels around $130-$135 and resistance at $150, with a breakout potentially signaling broader bullish momentum across AI and blockchain ecosystems.

Critically, the partnership’s non-exclusive nature and Nokia’s continued reliance on competitors like Marvell for chip supply chains introduced execution risks. Analysts emphasized that Nokia’s ability to scale AI-driven telecom solutions would depend on its capacity to innovate alongside NVIDIA without compromising existing relationships. Additionally, macroeconomic factors such as U.S. Treasury yields above 4.5% posed a tail risk to growth stocks, including NVIDIA, if inflationary pressures resurged. Despite these challenges, the investment underscored NVIDIA’s role as a linchpin in the AI infrastructure value chain, with its ecosystem of partnerships likely to drive sustained investor confidence.

In summary, NVIDIA’s 2.99% gain reflected a combination of strategic positioning in AI and telecom, immediate market validation of Nokia’s AI infrastructure ambitions, and cautious optimism about long-term revenue streams. While short-term volatility in Nokia’s stock highlighted profit-taking behavior, the partnership’s focus on 5G/6G and data center integration positioned both companies to capitalize on the AI supercycle—a narrative expected to gain traction as pilot projects with partners like T-Mobile U.S. progress in 2026.