US stocks rose on Monday as pressure on the dollar mounted and gold rebounded to lead the way in a big week filled with the Federal Reserve’s interest rate decision and earnings reports from major tech firms.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.7% and the S&P 500 rose 0.6%. The tech-leaning Nasdaq Composite rose 0.5%, following consecutive weekly losses for the three indexes.
The sign of cautious optimism on Wall Street came after President Trump said he would send “border czar” Tom Homan to Minnesota to manage ICE operations following the fatal shooting of a protester. Investors weighed in on concerns that the political fallout from Alex Pretti’s death could derail efforts to avoid a federal shutdown, a prospect that has helped fuel appetite for haven assets.
A weak dollar could also fuel an already relentless rally in gold (GC=F), which topped $5,000 an ounce for the first time on Sunday and continued to rise on Monday, SEEbiz reports.
This week brings a flood of earnings, including potentially key quarterly reports from four of the “Magnificent Seven” tech megacaps. Microsoft ( MSFT ), Meta ( META ) and Tesla ( TSLA ) are scheduled to report results on Wednesday, with Apple’s ( AAPL ) update due a day later, SEEbiz reports. Attention will be focused on AI spending plans, after Intel’s ( INTC ) pessimistic forecast last week highlighted challenges for AI development.
At the same time, a decision on Fed policy is looming at the end of a two-day meeting on Wednesday, where the central bank is expected to keep interest rates steady. Wall Street is wondering how long the Fed will wait for its next rate cut amid divisions among policymakers and growing tensions with the White House. Trump has hinted that he could nominate his replacement for Powell as early as this week, and BlackRock’s Rick Rieder (BLK) has been cited as the favorite.
