Stocks Rise As Powell's Remarks Cool Rate Fears: What's Moving Markets Monday?

U.S. equity markets bounced off seven-month lows on Monday, with major indices broadly higher by midday as President Donald Trump disclosed active negotiations with a “new and more reasonable” Iranian regime while Fed Chair Jerome Powell downplayed the need for imminent rate hikes.

• Amazon.com shares are advancing steadily. Why is AMZN stock advancing?

Powell reinforced the cautiously optimistic mood at Harvard University on Monday, where he said President Trump’s tariffs represented a “one-time price bump” and that the central bank has limited ability to offset supply shocks like war-driven energy surges.

“Inflation expectations appear to be well-anchored,” Powell said.

Markets interpreted Powell’s remarks as modestly dovish: the implied probability of a Fed rate hike in 2026 dropped to around 18%, as per the CME FedWatch tool.

The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note fell around 10 basis points to 4.34%, pulling back from the eight-month highs struck on Friday. The 2-year note also fell about 10 basis points to 3.82%, while the 30-year bond yielded 4.90%, down seven basis points.

Across U.S. equity markets by midday Monday, gains were broad-based, with nine of 11 S&P 500 sectors advancing.

The S&P 500 advanced 0.7% to 6,413, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 1.1% to 45,650. The Nasdaq 100 gained 0.5% to 23,240.

Within Magnificent Seven stocks, Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) and Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) led with advances of around 2%, while Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ:MSFT) added 1.9%.

Gold added 1.2% to $4,547 per troy ounce, with the SPDR Gold Trust (NYSE:GLD) tracking the move higher as bond yields retreated and dollar strength paused. Silver gained 2.2% to $71.11 per ounce. 

WTI crude oil advanced 2.3% to $101.97 per barrel.

Monday’s Performance In Major U.S. Indices

Index	Last	Daily % Change	MTD
S&P 500	6,413	+0.70%	-6.83%
Dow Jones	45,650	+1.07%	-6.72%
Nasdaq 100	23,240	+0.46%	-7.02%
Russell 2000	2,447	-0.12%	-7.88%

According to the Benzinga Pro platform:

• The Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (NYSE:VOO) gained 0.7%.
• The SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF Trust (NYSE:DIA) rose 1.1%.
• The Invesco QQQ Trust (NASDAQ:QQQ) was down 0.11%.
• The iShares Russell 2000 ETF (NYSE:IWM) slipped 0.67%.

Financials Lead Relief Rally As Yields Retreat; Cybersecurity Stocks Surge

The Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLF) led Monday’s broad sector recovery with a gain of 1.7%, as retreating Treasury yields eased credit cost concerns and JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) and Bank of America Corp. (NYSE:BAC) each rose more than 1%.

The Materials Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLB) rose 1.6% and the Real Estate Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLRE) gained 1.6%, with both sectors benefiting from the pullback in long-term rates. The Utilities Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLU) advanced 1.4%.

Among industry ETFs, the SPDR S&P Insurance ETF (NYSE:KIE) jumped 2.1%, the session’s strongest industry performer. The VanEck Gold Miners ETF (NYSE:GDX) rose 2% in tandem with gold’s advance, and the VanEck Agribusiness ETF (NYSE:MOO) added 1.5%. 

In cybersecurity, Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) surged 7.3%, among the S&P 500’s best performers on the session, while peer CrowdStrike Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CRWD) advanced 4.9%.

Monday’s Russell 1000 Top Gainers

Name	% change
United Therapeutics Corp. (NASDAQ:UTHR)	+13.08%
Alcoa Corp. (NYSE:AA)	+12.55%
Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI)	+9.75%
Palo Alto Networks, Inc.	+7.31%
FMC Corp. (NYSE:FMC)	+6.73%

Monday’s Russell 1000 Top Losers

Name	% change
Fermi Inc. (NASDAQ:FRMI)	-16.36%
Sysco Corp. (NYSE:SYY)	-12.77%
Boston Scientific Corp. (NYSE:BSX)	-10.39%
Astera Labs, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALAB)	-7.86%
MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP)	-7.52%

 

Photo: Courtesy Federal Reserve