4:10pm: Nasdaq, S&P reach new highs
Wall Street kicked off a pivotal week with a split finish on Monday, but that didn’t stop the Nasdaq and S&P 500 from climbing to fresh all-time highs.
The Nasdaq rose 0.4%, or 79 points, to close at 20,974, while the S&P 500 added 0.1%, inching up 9 points to finish at 6,306. The Dow Jones was essentially flat, slipping 19 points to 44,323. Meanwhile, the small-cap Russell 2000 lagged behind with a 0.4% decline.
Investors are bracing for a wave of earnings, with Alphabet and Tesla on deck to report Wednesday. They’ll be the first of the so-called “Magnificent Seven” to reveal how they fared last quarter — and whether their results can support the lofty valuations driven by AI enthusiasm. Talk of another tech bubble is making the rounds, but strong numbers this week could quiet the skeptics.
Beyond earnings, markets are also keeping a close eye on trade policy. A looming August 1 deadline for new US tariffs has added a layer of uncertainty, particularly as negotiations with trading partners continue.
In commodities, gold prices jumped over 1% to a five-week high, topping $3,400 an ounce. The rally came as the US dollar lost some steam, with the dollar index slipping below 98. A weaker greenback tends to lift gold, which is priced in dollars, and investors appear to be positioning for more volatility around the trade deadline.
All eyes now turn to the big names reporting later this week to see if this record run still has legs.
3:45pm: Proactive news headlines
- Canagold Resources Ltd reported strong feasibility study results for its New Polaris gold-antimony project, with an after-tax NPV of up to C$793 million and IRR of 47.3% at higher gold prices.
- Opendoor Technologies Inc shares surged over 85% amid a retail trading frenzy, with the stock up 188% over the past week to its highest level in more than a year.
- Excellon Resources Inc has begun underground rehabilitation work at its Mallay Silver Mine in Peru as part of its plan to restart silver production.
- Protalix BioTherapeutics Inc appointed Gilad Mamlok as its new CFO, with outgoing CFO Eyal Rubin remaining available to the company until October 2025.
- American Resources Corp and its unit ReElement Technologies signed an MOU with Impossible Metals to create a vertically integrated U.S. critical minerals supply chain from seabed to finished product.
- Century Lithium Corp announced Alpha-En Corporation successfully produced lithium-metal anodes from lithium carbonate sourced from its Nevada-based Angel Island project.
- Millennial Potash Corp launched a C$6 million non-brokered private placement to fund exploration at its Banio potash project and support general operations.
- Digi Power X Inc entered a securities purchase agreement to raise approximately US$15 million through a registered direct offering to a single institutional investor.
- Graphene Manufacturing Group Ltd appointed Professor Emeritus Doug Hargreaves to its Technical Advisory Committee, citing his extensive engineering expertise and industry leadership.
- Tiziana Life Sciences Ltd said its intranasal Alzheimer’s treatment foralumab reduced brain inflammation in a patient and may help clear harmful protein buildup.
- Gunnison Copper Corp closed a C$8.66 million private placement, issuing 28.87 million units with warrants exercisable through July 2028.
- NanoViricides reported that its antiviral candidate NV-387 significantly extended survival in a preclinical measles study using a humanized animal model.
3:10pm: Bessent warns against ouster
Market sentiment could improve as worries ease over President Trump's efforts to remove Fed Chair Jerome Powell, analysts say, after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent reportedly warned against the move due to legal, political, and market stability concerns.
"This is not the first time Bessent has managed to dissuade Trump from taking market-disruptive actions," Samer Hasn, Senior Market Analyst at XS.com said Monday.
"For investors, it signals a degree of reassurance that the Trump team may refrain from triggering major instability, which is a factor that could make any market pullbacks a potential launchpad for new highs. That’s exactly what appears to be unfolding now."
2:40pm: Stocks on the move
- Canagold Resources Ltd reported a feasibility study for its New Polaris gold-antimony project showing robust economics, including a C$425M NPV and 30.9% IRR at US$2,500/oz gold, with upside to C$793M NPV at spot prices.
- Opendoor Technologies Inc shares surged over 85% Monday amid a retail trading frenzy that has driven the stock up 188% in a week, echoing the meme stock rallies of 2021.
- Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. gained nearly 15% after posting quarterly revenue of $4.9 billion, surpassing Wall Street expectations.
- Verizon Communications Inc. rose almost 5% after topping Q2 earnings estimates and raising its full-year profit and cash flow guidance.
- Excellon Resources Inc. has begun underground rehabilitation at its Mallay Silver Mine in Peru as part of its strategy to restart silver production.
- Protalix BioTherapeutics Inc. appointed Gilad Mamlok as CFO, with outgoing CFO Eyal Rubin remaining available to the company through October 2025.
- American Resources Corp. and ReElement Technologies signed an MOU with Impossible Metals to jointly build a U.S.-based critical minerals supply chain from seabed to refined product.
- Digi Power X Inc. entered a definitive agreement to raise approximately $15 million via a registered direct offering to a single institutional investor.
- Tertiary Minerals PLC shares rose 5% in London after launching a new 1,500-metre drill program at its Mushima North project in Zambia targeting copper, silver, and zinc.
- Anglo Asian Mining Plc shares climbed 7% after announcing the start of production at its Demirli copper mine in Azerbaijan, its second new mine launched this year.
2:00pm: Muted growth signals
This week’s light economic calendar will help refine forecasts for Q2 real GDP, with key data points including home sales and durable goods orders.
While Fed Chair Powell is scheduled to speak at a regulatory event, policymakers remain in a pre-meeting blackout period ahead of next week’s FOMC decision.
Deutsche Bank analysts noted that June CPI came in slightly below expectations. "The underlying details were less benign, and there is now indisputable evidence of tariff-driven price increases," analysts wrote.
They expect core PCE inflation for June to rise 0.3%, pushing the year-over-year rate to 2.8%. Despite recent softer inflation prints, Deutsche Bank believes most Fed officials will favor holding rates steady unless labor market data deteriorates significantly, with a potential rate cut not likely until December.
1:05pm: Nasdaq outperforms
The main indexes continued to move higher in early afternoon trading Monday, buoyed by gains in Big Tech shares ahead of major corporate earnings due this week.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.6%, while the S&P 500 also climbed 0.6%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq outperformed, up 0.8%.
Alphabet shares (GOOGL, GOOG) jumped more than 2%, leading the "Magnificent Seven" higher as analysts reiterated bullish outlooks ahead of the company's second-quarter results on Wednesday. Meta Platforms (META) advanced 1.3%, while Apple (AAPL) added 1.1%. Amazon (AMZN) was up nearly 1%.
Microsoft (MSFT) and Nvidia (NVDA) slipped fractionally.
Tesla (TSLA), which is also set to report earnings Wednesday, edged lower by nearly 0.3%.
12:25pm: JPMorgan launches private coverage with OpenAI
JPMorgan has initiated coverage of OpenAI with a cautiously optimistic outlook, marking its first-ever research note on a private company and underscoring the influence of the artificial intelligence pioneer.
The bank estimates OpenAI has reached an annual recurring revenue (ARR) of $10 billion as of the first half of 2025, with about $7 billion generated from consumer subscriptions. JPMorgan analysts Brenda Duverce and Lula Sheena wrote that while the company’s growth is “remarkable,” its “vibe spending” could test investor patience as profitability is not expected until 2029.
“Investor expectations may be tested,” the analysts said, citing heavy infrastructure and talent investments totaling $63 billion and valuation multiples well above industry norms.
11:50am: EU preps retaliatory measures
EU officials are preparing retaliatory measures against the US as trade talks falter ahead of an August 1 deadline, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday, citing unnamed sources.
The US has ramped up demands, including blanket tariffs of 15% to 20% on EU imports, according to the Financial Times. In response, the EU is considering activating its anti-coercion instrument — a legal mechanism that has yet to be used.
“If they want war, they will get war,” one EU official was quoted as saying. The European Commission declined to comment.
11:15am: Another new high
The S&P 500 has managed to push to another new record high ahead of key earnings this week, noted Chris Beauchamp, Chief Market Analyst at online trading platform IG.
“The old adage ‘Never short a quiet market’ remains appropriate as we watch the S&P 500 march to yet another new high," Beauchamp wrote Monday.
"Early reports from earnings season suggest that US companies are easily stepping over lowered expectations, helping to juice the rally even further.”
10:40am: Week ahead
Wall Street enters a quiet stretch this week, although a flood of corporate earnings and a key speech from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell might subvert thin trading and subdued price action as summer markets set in.
Tech titans Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) and Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) headline the second-quarter earnings calendar, with results due after markets close on Wednesday. Market watchers are hoping strong numbers—particularly around AI and cloud revenue—can reignite momentum in a sector that’s been leading this year’s rally.
Overall, around 100 S&P 500 companies are set to report earnings this week, following what’s already been a strong start to the season—particularly among banks.
Investors are also bracing for fresh remarks from Powell on Tuesday, when he’s due to speak at a conference for large banks in Washington, DC.
On the data front, it’s a relatively light week. Investors will parse existing home sales, initial jobless claims, and S&P Global’s flash PMIs, though none are expected to dramatically shift sentiment.
9.55am: Wall Street starts week on front foot
Wall Street has started the week in a positive mood, led by big tech gains.
The Nasdaq Composite is up almost 0.7%, with the S&P 500 rising 0.4% and the Dow Jones inching up 0.1%.
Both the Nasdaq and S&P have hit new all-time highs.
Alphabet and Tesla, which report later this week, are both up around 1.5%. Small declines for Nvidia and Microsoft are preventing a larger rally.
On the Nasdaq, semiconductor companies were leading the gains, with GlobalFoundries and ARM top of the early leaderboard.
8.05am: Stock futures point to Nasdaq leading Monday gains
US stocks futures were pointing to small gains at the start of a week when over 400 New York-listed companies will report, including 42 from the S&P 500 and six from the Dow Jones index.
Dow Jones and S&P futures were both up just over 0.2%, with those for the tech-tilted Nasdaq 100 rising 0.25%.
The past week ended on a mixed note, with the S&P and Nasdaq flat, and the Dow down 0.3% on Friday.
The themes of recent weeks continued to dominate: trade dealings and pressure from President Trump on the Federal Reserve.
As the countdown to Donald Trump's 1 August tariff red-line date nears, US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said at the weekend that he hoped a trade agreement would be reached with the EU, but that the deadline was hard.
He left the door open for negotiations to continue, saying, “nothing stops countries from talking to us after August 1st.”
Early on Monday there were reports suggesting that the new universal tariff on all EU goods will be above the current rate of 10% with fewer exemptions, flagged market analyst Kathleen Brooks at XTB.
"Voices are also getting louder in the EU about retaliatory measures including new taxes on US tech giants, which could disrupt negotiations even further."
On earnings, stats from FactSet suggest over 80% of companies reporting earnings have beaten estimates, ahead of long-term averages.
The theme last week was big banks, which impressed with earnings but cautious comments on the outlook signalled potential headwinds.
"Market reaction has been muted, likely because these stocks were already priced for good news," said Kenny Polcari at Slatestone Wealth.
"But now we’re in it – the meat and potatoes of earnings season."
Following Netflix as the first big tech name last week, there's a double-whammy of Mag7 earnings later this week in the shape of Alphabet and Tesla.
"Coming off the back of a period that has seen a major focus on the banks, we have thus far seen a relatively upbeat assessment about the state of the US consumer," said Joshua Mahony at Rostro.
"With last week seeing improved retail sales and consumer sentiment data, all eyes will be firmly focused on the US dollar to see if it will maintain the rebound evident throughout July thus far."
Early indications were that it would not, with the DXY index down 0.4% to just over 98 early on Monday.