S&P 500 Prints New Record Highs Ahead Of Powell Speech; Russell 2000 Rally Continues, Trump Stocks Spike: What's Driving Markets Monday?
The U.S. stock market, represented by the index of the 500 largest companies by market capitalization, jumped to new all-time highs at the start of the week, as investors eagerly await Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s interview at 12:30 p.m. ET at the Economic Club of New York.
After the assassination attempt during Donald Trump’s rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, last Saturday, market-prediction odds indicate a 72% chance of the tycoon winning the 2024 elections. This appears to maintain a high-risk appetite among investors, although there is still a noticeable preference for small caps over large caps, and cyclical sectors over defensive ones.
Following the best weekly performance since October 2023, small caps continue to rally on Monday, with the Russell 2000 Index, as tracked by the iShares Russell 2000 ETF (NYSE:IWM), rising over 2%, on track to notch its fourth straight session of gains. The 8% rise over the last four sessions marks the Russell 2000’s best four-day rally since June 2020.
Energy and financials outperform other sectors on Wall Street, while utilities witness their worst daily performance since January 2024.
Gold shines among commodities, with yellow metal prices soaring to $2,437 per ounce, nearing the all-time high barrier.
Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) jumps to over $63,000, up 3.7%, marking its best day in about two months.
Monday’s Performance In Major U.S. Indices, ETFs
| Major Indices | Price | 1-day %chg |
| Russell 2000 | 2,192.31 | 2.0% |
| Nasdaq 100 | 20,530.34 | 1.0% |
| S&P 500 | 5,656.91 | 0.7% |
| Dow Jones | 40,261.34 | 0.7% |
According to Benzinga Pro data:
- The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSE:SPY) was 0.6% higher to $563.41.
- The SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average (NYSE:DIA) rose by 0.6% to $402.83.
- The tech-heavy Invesco QQQ Trust (ARCA: QQQ) soared 0.8% to $498.93.
- Sector-wise, the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLE) outperformed, up by 1.7%, while the Utilities Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLU) lagged, down 2%.
Monday’s Stock Movers
- Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE:GS) rose over 1% to a new all-time peak as the bank reported stronger-than-expected earnings and revenue last quarter.
- BlackRock Inc. (NYSE:BLK) rose 0.4% in reaction to its quarterly results.
- Trump Media & Technology Group Corp. (NYSE:DJT) rallied over 27% on Monday, driven by rising market-implied odds of Trump following the assassination attempt.
- Bitcoin-linked stocks such as MicroStrategy Inc. (NASDAQ:MSTR), Coinbase Global Inc. (NASDAQ:COIN), and Marathon Digital Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MARA) rallied 13%, 10.5% and 9%, respectively, as crypto assets surged.
- Macys Inc. (NYSE:M) plummeted by about 13%, marking the strongest one-day drop since August 2023, as the company ended buyout talks with Arkhouse Management.
This photo was generated using artificial intelligence Dall-E.