The tech-heavy Nasdaq increased by 0.9%, or 207.65 points, concluding at 22,348.75, thereby achieving yet another record closing high, driven by investor optimism following President Donald Trump’s remarks indicating that the U.S.-China trade discussions were progressing positively. Concurrently, attention remained fixed on the forthcoming key policy meeting of the Federal Reserve this week. All three major indexes concluded the trading session in positive territory.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average increased by 0.1%, translating to a gain of 49.23 points, concluding the session at 45,883.45 points. The S&P 500 experienced an increase of 0.5%, translating to 30.99 points, concluding at 6,615.28 points. This marks a new all-time high, with the index closing above the 6,600 threshold for the first occasion. Communication services, technology, and consumer discretionary equities emerged as the most significant gainers. The Communication Services Select Sector SPDR gained 1.4%. The Technology Select Sector SPDR and the Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR each experienced an increase of 0.9%. Seven of the eleven sectors of the benchmark index concluded the trading session in positive territory. The CBOE Volatility Index, often referred to as the fear gauge, experienced an increase of 6.30%, reaching a level of 15.69.
Decliners outnumbered advancers on the S&P 500 by a ratio of 3.3 to 1. On the NYSE, the ratio of advancers to decliners stood at 1.67-to-1. On Nasdaq, a ratio of 1.2-to-1 indicated a preference for advancing issues. On Monday, trading volume reached 17.68 billion shares, surpassing the 20-session average of 16.2 billion shares. On the Nasdaq, 117 new highs were recorded alongside 66 new lows. In the S&P 500, 23 new 52-week highs were recorded alongside 11 new lows. Equities experienced an upswing on Monday following indications from Trump that the U.S.-China trade negotiations were progressing towards a favorable resolution. Officials from both nations engaged in tariff discussions for the second consecutive day.
The potential sale of the Chinese-owned social media platform TikTok was also a topic of discussion ahead of the deadline. Trump refrained from mentioning TikTok directly but indicated in a post on Truth Social that an agreement was made concerning a “company” that a significant number of American youths were reluctant to part with. Meanwhile, shares of Alphabet Inc. jumped 4.5% after the search engine giant surpassed $3 trillion in market cap. Alphabet holds a Zacks Rank of #3, indicating a Hold position. The comprehensive list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks is available here. Additionally, shares of Tesla, Inc. gained 3.6% after regulatory filings showed that CEO Elon Musk had acquired approximately $1 billion worth of the company’s stock last week. Investors are anticipating the forthcoming Federal Open Market Committee’s policy meeting, the most significant event of the week, during which the central bank is projected to reduce interest rates for the first time this year.
The Federal Reserve has maintained its interest rate levels since December 2024. A deteriorating labor market has fueled expectations that the Federal Reserve will reduce interest rates by 25 basis points at the conclusion of its meeting on Wednesday. The markets are currently reflecting a 96.1% probability of a quarter percentage point reduction in interest rates.