Nasdaq, S&P 500 at record highs as investors eye company news. Bitcoin hits record, too
U.S. stocks closed higher, shaking off opening losses, as investors shifted focus from President Donald Trump's tariffs to corporate news.
The rally boosted investors' appetite for risk, which lifted bitcoin to a record high for the second straight day.
Nvidia also led tech shares higher again. The stock closed up 0.75% at $164.10, giving the company a market value of $4.004 trillion at the close. That's the first time the chip darling closed with a $4 trillion valuation. Earlier in the week, the company's valuation peaked during the day above $4 trillion but closed at about $3.97 trillion.
MP Materials shares soared after the company said the Department of Defense became its largest shareholder, and Delta Air Lines rallied and lifted the airline sector after the company said bookings had stabilized. Delta also said premium ticket revenue rose 5% year over year and loyalty program revenue grew 8%. Delta helped boost American Airlines shares up 12.72% and United Airlines up 14.33%.
The blue-chip Dow added 0.43%, or 192.40 points, to 44,650.70; the broad S&P 500 gained 0.27%, or 17.14 points, to 6,280.40 and reached a new all-time high. The tech-heavy Nasdaq added 0.09%, or 19.33 points, to 20,630.67, scoring a record high for the second straight day. The benchmark 10-year yield rose to 4.348% as consistently solid economic data continues to push out hopes for a rate cut.
The surge in stocks helped boost bitcoin, too, which scored a record high for the second day. Bitcoin is also gaining from wider acceptance as more companies adopt bitcoin reserve strategies like Microstrategy. Institutions also are snapping up the digital asset for the exchange traded funds. Financial firm BlackRock reportedly now holds over $130 billion of bitcoin.
Earlier, Trump slapped a 50% tariff on Brazil, and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said his country would respond. Trump also said his 50% tariff on copper imports would begin on Aug. 1.
The levy on Brazil comes after Trump sent letters with new U.S. rates on the imports of at least seven additional countries. Earlier this week, he sent letters to 14 other countries, including Japan and South Korea. These tariffs would go into effect Aug. 1 if the countries do not agree to a trade deal.
The European Union expects to reach an outline trade agreement with the U.S. this week.
Stocks closed higher on July 9 as Nvidia briefly reached a $4 trillion valuation, helping to renew appetite for artificial intelligence stocks. The Federal Reserve's meeting minutes also fueled hopes that inflation pressures from tariffs would not derail interest rate cuts this year. The minutes showed most Fed members expected price increases from tariffs to be "temporary or modest" but were split on when they could lower rates again.
Jobless claims data for the week ending July 5 unexpectedly fell. Jobless claims totaled a seasonally adjusted 227,000, down 5,000 from the previous period and below the Dow Jones estimate for 235,000. However, continuing claims increased to 1.96 million, up 10,000 to the highest level since Nov. 13, 2021. Continuing claims are an indicator of how long people have been jobless.
"The labor market may not necessarily be robust, but it’s not showing signs of falling apart either," said trading and investment platform eToro's U.S. Investment Analyst Bret Kenwell.
As long as the economy holds up, the Fed's been willing to wait to see how tariffs shape up and affect inflation and the economy.
Corporate news
- WK Kellogg is being bought by chocolate maker Ferrero in a $3.1 billion, or $23 per Kellogg share in cash. Shares rallied 30.52%.
- Delta Air Lines topped quarterly estimates in the company's second fiscal quarter and sees third-quarter earnings above analysts' expectations. It also issued a profit outlook for the year, reversing its decision to pull guidance in April after Trump announced his first tariff plan. However, the earnings per share forecast was lower than the one issued in January. Shares jumped 12.08%.
- Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing reported a 40% jump in January-June revenue from a year earlier. Shares fell almost 1%.
- MP Materials, which own the only operational rare earth mine in the U.S., saw its shares soar 50.67% after the company said the Defense Department will buy $400 million of preferred stock in the company to become the largest shareholder.
- Conagra shares dropped 4.3% after the company reported disappointing quarterly results and annual outlook.
- Ulta Beauty said it has acquired British beauty retailer Space NK as part of its plan to grow internationally. Terms weren't disclosed. Ulta shares edged up.
Bitcoin all time high
Bitcoin was last up 1.99% a $113,439.30, just off its record high of $113,822 hit earlier in the day.
In other bitcoin news, Donald Trump Jr. purchased 350,000 shares in social media company Thumzup Media Corp for more than $4 million. Thumzp Media recently adopted a bitcoin treasury strategy and now holds more than $2 million worth of bitcoin. Many companies are following in the footsteps of Strategy, which was one of the first to create a bitcoin treasury strategy.
BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust, though, has surpassed Strategy's bitcoin holdings, accumulating nearly 700,000 of bitcoin worth approximately $75.8 billion and capturing 3.32% of bitcoin’s total supply, according to Bitcoin Treasuries data.
Separately, Apple has approved the first iOS game allowing players to spend small amounts of bitcoin for in-game extras. Payments go through ZBD's technology, which handles fast, low-cost payments without leaving the app.
(This story was updated with new information.)
Medora Lee is a money, markets, and personal finance reporter at Paste BN. You can reach her at mjlee@usatoday.com and subscribe to our free Daily Money newsletter for personal finance tips and business news every Monday through Friday.