US Stock Market today: S&P 500, Dow Jones, Nasdaq climb to record high on optimism over US-China trade truce

US stock indices climbed to record highs on Monday on optimism over a potential US-China trade truce in a pivotal week packed with Federal Reserve’s monetary policy meeting and Big Tech earnings.

US President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping are scheduled to meet on Thursday to determine the framework for a trade agreement. This deal is intended to pause the implementation of steeper American tariffs and Chinese rare earths export controls.

On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve will announce its decision on interest rates. Comments from Chair Jerome Powell will be meticulously scrutinised for any indications regarding a potential rate cut in December.

At 10:28 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 238.57 points, or 0.51%, to 47,445.69, the S&P 500 gained 58.69 points, or 0.86%, to 6,850.38 and the Nasdaq Composite gained 324.40 points, or 1.40%, to 23,529.27.

At 09:30 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 315.67 points, or 0.67%, to 47,530.09, the S&P 500 gained 63.83 points, or 0.92%, to 6,856.09 and the Nasdaq Composite gained 335.24 points, or 1.45%, to 23,544.00.

In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury was holding steady at 4.02%.

Gainers and Losers

Qualcomm's shares climbed by as much as 22% to $205.95 after the company unveiled artificial intelligence processors and computer systems targeting the highly profitable AI data centre market.

Technology shares advanced 1.4%, with Intel and Super Micro Computer both surging by more than 4%.

Chinese companies listed on the US exchanges saw notable gains, with Alibaba Group Holding, JD.com, and PDD Holdings each RISING by over 2%, whilst Baidu jumped 5%.

Conversely, rare earth miners suffered losses, with MP Materials, USA Rare Earth, and the NYSE-listed Trilogy Metals shares falling by 5.6%, 11%, and 15% respectively.

Cadence Bank stock jumped 5.1% after Huntington Banchsares announced it would buy the bank with locations across Texas and the South for $7.4 billion. Huntington shares fell 2.1%.

Avidity Biosciences soared 42.6% after Novartis agreed to acquire the San Diego- based biopharmaceutical company for $12 billion.

Bullion Market

Gold prices dipped below $4,000 per ounce on Monday, as growing signs of a thaw in US-China trade tensions lessened the metal's appeal as a traditional safe haven asset.

Spot gold recorded a drop of 2.6% to stand at $4,005.11 per ounce at 10:13 a.m. ET (1413 GMT), having briefly traded under the $4,000 mark earlier in the session. US gold futures for December delivery also fell, down 2.9% to $4,019.00.

Elsewhere in the metals markets, spot silver fell 3.8% to $46.75 per ounce, platinum eased 1.1% to $1,588.86, and palladium declined 1.3% to $1,409.47.

Crude Oil

Oil prices were down on Monday on concerns about weak demand for crude.

Brent crude futures were down 14 cents, or nearly 0.2%, to $65.70 a barrel at 1227 GMT. US West Texas Intermediate crude futures were down 9 cents or 0.2%, to $61.41.