Wall Street Extends Records, Gold Rallies To $3,400: What's Moving Markets Monday?

Wall Street opened the week on a risk-on footing, with the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq 100 extending record highs as strong earnings reinforced confidence in corporate America and investors continued to shrug off trade tensions.

By midday trading in New York, the S&P 500 had climbed 0.6% to break above 6,330, the Nasdaq 100 rose 0.8% to 23,260, and the Dow Jones added 260 points, or 0.6%.

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick reaffirmed the August 1 tariff deadline as “hard,” though he said that negotiation are set to continue.

Gold prices jumped 1.5% to $3,400 per ounce, hitting a one-month-high, while silver gained 1.9%, both lifted by renewed dollar weakness.

The U.S. dollar index slipped below 98 amid rising concerns over the Fed's independence. On Monday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent called for a review of the institution, telling CNBC that there's a need to "examine the entire Federal Reserve institution and whether they have been successful."

Meanwhile, President Donald Trump's prolonged criticism of Fed Chair Jerome Powell reignited speculation about a possible dismissal. According to CFTC-regulated betting platform Kalshi, there’s a 23% chance Powell could be removed by the end of the year. Powell is legally protected from being removed by Trump.

Bitcoin BTC/USD rose 1.1% to $118,590, and Ethereum ETH/USD added 1.8%, as digital asset demand remained strong following latest policy breakthroughs.

Monday’s Performance Of Major US Indices, ETFs

According to Benzinga Pro data:

• The Vanguard S&P 500 ETF VOO rose 0.6% to $580.15.
• The SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average DIA rose 0.6% to $445.86.
• The tech-heavy Invesco QQQ Trust Series QQQ soared 0.8% to $565.17.
• The iShares Russell 2000 ETF IWM rose 0.6% to $223.58.
• The Communication Services Select Sector SPDR Fund XLC outperformed, up 1.2%; the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund XLE lagged, down 0.5%.

Monday’s Stock Movers

• Verizon Communications Inc. VZ soared 4.7% after reporting stronger-than-expected quarterly results.
• Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. CLF is weighing the sale of several plants, including three idled facilities in Illinois and Pennsylvania. Shares jumped 7.8% to $10.22, with traders viewing the stock as undervalued.
• Bruker Corp. BRKR fell 14% to $57.84 after issuing preliminary second-quarter revenue guidance that came in below Wall Street estimates.
• Block Inc. SQ jumped 8.1% after it was announced Friday that the financial technology firm will join the S&P 500 before Wednesday's open.
• Stocks scheduled to report earnings Tuesday before the market open include Coca-Cola Co. KO, Philip Morris International Inc. PM, RTX Corp. RTX, Danaher Corp. DHR, Lockheed Martin Corp. LMT, Northrop Grumman Corp. NOC, General Motors Co. GM, PACCAR Inc. PCAR, MSCI Inc. MSCI and D.R. Horton Inc. DHI.

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