Wall Street's main indexes posted record closing highs for the second day in a row on Monday as investors were hopeful about the prospects for a U.S.-China trade deal and looked forward to a week packed with high-profile technology earnings and a widely expected U.S. interest rate cut.
Market Snapshot
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 337.47 points, or 0.71%, to 47,544.59, the S&P 500 rose 83.47 points, or 1.23%, to 6,875.16 and the Nasdaq Composite rose 432.59 points, or 1.86%, to 23,637.46.
Market Movers
Qualcomm jumped 11% after the semiconductor company introduced its AI200 and AI250 rack server lineup, offering new artificial-intelligence competition in an area dominated by Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices. Nvidia rose 2.8% and AMD gained 2.7%.
Avidity Biosciences surged 42% to $70 after Swiss drugmaker Novartis agreed to buy the biotech company in a deal valued at $12 billion. Novartis will pay $72 a share in cash for the San Diego-based Avidity, roughly a 46% premium to Avidity's Friday closing price of $49.15. U.S.-listed shares of Novartis fell 0.9%.
Gold miner Newmont dropped 5.7% after tumbling 6.2% on Friday. Bullion prices tumbled last week, with many investors opting to take profits after a stellar run for the precious metal. The most actively traded gold futures contract fell 2.8% to $4,020 an ounce.
MP Materials fell 7.4%, USA Rare Earth declined 8.4%, and other rare-earths stocks traded lower after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said he expected China to defer its tightened export controls on rare-earth materials as a result of negotiations with his Beijing counterparts.
Tesla rose 4.3%, getting a lift from the trade progress between the Trump administration and Beijing. China accounted for more than 20% of 2024 sales for the electric-vehicle maker.
GameStop gained 1% after trading much higher in the premarket session. The videogame retailer posted a humorous message on its verified X social media account last week, calling for an end to the so-called console wars, as a reference to game players' preferences for various platforms and designers' and publishers' decision to prioritize one over the other. A similarly playful image of President Donald Trump released by the White House, depicting him as a character in Microsoft's coming release of Halo: Campaign Evolved, was also taken as support for GameStop's broader marketing effort.
Microsoft stock was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Guggenheim with a price target of $586. Shares rose 1.5% to $531.52. The software company is scheduled to report quarterly earnings after Wednesday's market close.
Keurig Dr Pepper gained 7.6% after third-quarter profit and sales rose from a year earlier and the beverage maker boosted its fiscal-year sales outlook. Separately, the company indicated its acquisition of JDE Peet's remains on track.
Market News
Gold Holds Below $4,000 as US-China Progress Damps Haven Demand
Gold steadied after plunging below $4,000 an ounce, as US-China trade talks weighed on demand for haven assets.
Bullion traded near $3,990 an ounce, following a 3.2% decline on Monday after negotiators from Washington and Beijing said they’d struck a series of agreements on issues including tariffs and export controls. Treasuries moved lower even as traders stuck to bets that the Federal Reserve is set to loosen monetary policy this week, with higher yields weighing on non-interest bearing gold.
Soybeans Surge as US-China Talks Spur Hope for Trade Revival
Soybeans and other crops soared as progress in negotiations between the US and China lifted hopes that the world’s two largest economies were edging toward a deal in their protracted trade war.
Soy futures rose as much as 2.8% in Chicago, reaching the highest since July 2024. That came after US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said China would make “substantial” purchases of the oilseed under a pact the two countries are close to finalizing. Wheat jumped by the most since Aug. 12.
Oil Steady as Traders Focus on Glut and Russian Crude Sanctions
Oil steadied after two-day drop as investors weighed signs of glut and the fallout from western sanctions on Russian producers.
West Texas Intermediate traded near $61, while Brent closed below $66 on Monday. The amount of oil being shipped across the world’s oceans hit a fresh record, a sign supplies are continuing to mount. In addition, OPEC+ may agree to add more production at a meeting this weekend.
