S&P 500, Nasdaq Inch Higher to Fresh Records as Stock Rally Continues; Investors Monitor News on Trade, Budget Bill

Big Banks Rise After Strong Stress Test Results

3 minutes ago

Shares of major banks, including JPMorgan Chase (JPM), Goldman Sachs (GS), and Wells Fargo (WFC), advanced Monday after the Federal Reserve said those institutions could easily survive a recession.

In its annual stress tests designed to gauge how well financial firms could stand up to a crisis put in place following the Great Recession, the Fed said late Friday that the banks have sizable amounts of money to withstand a major blow.

Fed Vice Chair for Supervision Michelle Bowman noted that large banks “remain well capitalized and resilient to a range of severe outcomes.”

This year’s stress test looked at what would happen if the 22 institutions surveyed faced a massive $550 billion loss as borrowers defaulted on their payments. The Fed noted that all 22 have enough cash available to remain above what is considered their minimum capital requirements.

In a note to clients, Bank of America pointed out that the results were better than most investors expected, adding that Goldman Sachs had the biggest year-over-year improvement.

The news lifted shares of JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs to all-time highs.

–Bill McColl

HPE, Juniper Soar as DOJ Approves Deal

35 minutes ago

Shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) and Juniper Networks (JNPR) jumped Monday after the two tech firms and the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced they had reached a deal to allow HPE’s $14 billion purchase of Juniper to go through.

Regulators had filed a lawsuit in January to block the acquisition, arguing that because of the companies’ strength in wireless local area network (WLAN) technology, the combination “would eliminate fierce head-to-head competition between the companies, raise prices, reduce innovation, and diminish choice for scores of American businesses and institutions.”

HPE, Juniper, and the DOJ said the settlement satisfies the government’s requirements, including having HPE divest its global Instant On campus and branch WLAN business, and that the merged firm will make Juniper’s AI Ops for Mist source code available to rivals. 

The purchase of Juniper by the provider of IT solutions to businesses was aimed at boosting HPE’s position in the booming market for artificial intelligence products. “For the first time, customers will now have a modern network architecture alternative that can best support the demands of AI workloads,” HPE CEO Antonio Neri said.

The news lifted Juniper Networks shares 9% and into positive territory for 2025. Shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise soared 14% to lead early S&P 500 gainers Monday but remain in the red for the year.

–Bill McColl

S&P 500 Levels to Watch With Index at Record Levels

1 hr 35 min ago

The S&P 500 inched higher to a fresh record in early trading Monday, extending a remarkable recovery from its early-April lows.

The benchmark index has resumed its longer term uptrend after recently breaking out from a flag pattern, a move that sees the 50-day moving average (MA) set to cross above the 200-MA this week to form a bullish golden cross signal.

While the relative strength index entered overbought territory on Friday, the indicator remains well below last year’s July peak following a bullish six-week run, indicating the index has sufficient room to move higher.

Bars pattern analysis forecasts a potential overhead target of around 6,460 and indicates the current move higher could last until early August. Investors should also watch key support levels on the S&P 500’s chart around 6,050 and 5,850.

The S&P 500 dropped as much as 21% between late February and early April before staging a turnaround that lifted the index to a 5% year-to-date gain as of Friday’s close. The index was up 0.2% at around 6,190 about half an hour after Monday’s opening bell.

Read the full technical analysis piece here.

–Timothy Smith

Another Banner Month for U.S. Stocks

2 hr 53 min ago

The major stock indexes are on track for their second consecutive month of strong gains.

Heading into the final trading session in June, the S&P 500 has risen 4.4% for the month, after climbing 6.2% in May. The Nasdaq Composite is up 6.1% in June, adding to the previous month’s 9.6% gain. The Dow Jones Industrial average has tacked on 3.7% so far this month, after a 3.9% increase in May.

Since the start of the year the S&P 500 and Nasdaq have risen 5%, while the Dow has gained 3%.

It’s been a rocky road to record highs.

Stocks plunged in early April amid concerns about the Trump administration’s tariff policies and how they could affect the economy. The S&P 500 was down 15% year-to-date at its low point, while the Nasdaq was down more than 20% for the year at that point.

Concerns about tariffs have subsided over the past several weeks, while economic data and corporate earnings have been generally encouraging. With the improvement in investor sentiment, the Nasdaq has soared 33% since hitting its low for the year on April 8, while the S&P 500 has surged 24%.

Major Index Futures Point to Higher Open

3 hr 41 min ago

Futures tied to the New York Stock Exchange were up 0.6%.

S&P 500 futures added 0.5%.

Nasdaq 100 futures rose 0.6%.