Wall Street closed higher at record-high level on Monday to finish a turbulent first-half 2025. Expectations of U.S.-China trade deal and the Fed’s indication of interest rate cuts this year also boosted market participants’ confidence in risky assets like equities. The three major stock indexes ended positive territory. These indexes also closed strong in then last month and last quarter. However, these indexes performed soft in the first half of 2025.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) advanced 0.6% or 275.50 points to close at 44,0974.77. At intraday high, the blue-chip index was up nearly 320 points. Notably, 22 components of the 30-stock index ended in positive territory and 8 finished in negative zone. The index is 2.6% away from its all-time high recorded on Dec 4, 2024.
The major gainer of the index was The Goldman Sachs Group Inc. GS. The stock price of the investment bank behemoth was up 2.5%. The Goldman Sachs currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite finished at 20,369.73, rising 0.5% due to strong performance of technology bigwigs. This was a new record-high closing for the index. In intraday trading, the tech-laden index also posted a new all-time high of 20,418.31.
The S&P 500 was up 0.5% to finish at 6,204.95, marking a new closing-high. In intraday trading, Wall Street’s most observed benchmark posted a new all-time high of 6,215.08. Eight out of 11 broad sectors of the broad-market index ended in positive territory while three in negative zone.
The Technology Select Sector SPDR (XLK) appreciated 1% while the Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR (XLY) and the Energy Select Sector SPDR fell 0.6% each.
The fear-gauge CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) was up 2.5% to 16.73. A total of 17.12 billion shares were traded on Monday, lower than the last 20-session average of 18.23 billion. Advancers outnumbered decliners on the NYSE by a 1.2-to-1 ratio. On Nasdaq, a 1.1-to-1 ratio favored advancing issues.
The Bloomberg News citing Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said that the framework of a trade deal between the United States and China has been reached. China also subscribed to this statement. Moreover, on Jun 29, Canada scrapped its digital services tax targeting U.S. tech giants.
Last month was highly successful for Wall Street. The three major stock index – the Dow, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite – rallied 4%, 5% and 6%, respectively. Hope for major trade deals, ceasefire in Middle-East geopolitical conflicts and expectations of further interest rate cut in the second half of 2025 bolstered investors sentiments.
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