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

Author: Piero Cingari | July 21, 2025 12:44pm

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.

See Also: Trump’s Economy Is Riding A Tsunami Of Inflows — So Much For ‘Sell America’

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 (CRYPTO: BTC) rose 1.1% to $118,590, and Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH) added 1.8%, as digital asset demand remained strong following latest policy breakthroughs.

Monday’s Performance Of Major US Indices, ETFs

Major Indices	Price	% Chg
Nasdaq 100	23,258.14	0.8%
Russell 2000	2,253.86	0.6%
S&P 500	6,335.66	0.6%
Dow Jones	44,602.93	0.6%

According to Benzinga Pro data:

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

Monday’s Stock Movers

• Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) soared 4.7% after reporting stronger-than-expected quarterly results.
• Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE: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. (NASDAQ:BRKR) fell 14% to $57.84 after issuing preliminary second-quarter revenue guidance that came in below Wall Street estimates.
• Block Inc. (NYSE: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. (NYSE:KO), Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM), RTX Corp. (NYSE:RTX), Danaher Corp. (NYSE:DHR), Lockheed Martin Corp. (NYSE:LMT), Northrop Grumman Corp. (NYSE:NOC), General Motors Co. (NYSE:GM), PACCAR Inc. (NASDAQ:PCAR), MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) and D.R. Horton Inc. (NYSE:DHI).

Now Read

• Trump’s Economy Is Riding A Tsunami Of Inflows — So Much For ‘Sell America’
  

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