US Stock Market Today: Dow, S&P 500, Nasdaq Rally as Trump Hints at Breakthrough in US-China Trade Deal

The US stock market began the week very positively on Monday, mainly thanks to the revived expectation for a possible US-China trade agreement, which in turn drove the principal indexes to their highest points ever. Investors were very pleased with President Donald Trump's statements, who hinted that the meeting between him and the Chinese President Xi Jinping this week might finally bring about a solution to the trade dispute that has been dragging on for years.

📈 Wall Street Gains Ahead of Trump-Xi Summit

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) went up by 0.6%, the S&P 500 (^GSPC) gained 0.9%, and the Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) led the way with a 1.5% increase, hitting 23,575.12 around noon.

The good feeling seems to be stronger before an important week for the investors which includes the Federal Reserve’s interest rate decision, Big Tech earnings, and Thursday’s Trump-Xi meeting in South Korea.

“Both sides seem to have reached some agreement,” said US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, referring to a “successful framework” for discussions later this week. China was equally optimistic, talking about a “preliminary consensus” to settle vital trade disputes.

Trump told reporters on Air Force One:

“I respect President Xi a lot, and I believe we are going to get a deal.”

💰 Fed Rate Cut Likely as Inflation Cools

The market is almost certain of a rate cut by the Fed following its policy meeting that ends on Wednesday after two days. The softer-than-expected inflation data, which was delayed due to the government shutdown, is now considered a stronger argument for monetary easing.

On top of that, investors cannot take their eyes off the “Magnificent Seven” tech majors as they start getting ready to announce their quarterly results.

Microsoft (MSFT), Alphabet (GOOGL), and Meta (META) will disclose their results on Wednesday

Apple (AAPL) and Amazon (AMZN) will follow on Thursday

🌏 China’s Mining Surge and Rare Earth Tensions

As the trade outlook improves, China’s non-ferrous mining and refining activities increased 14% year-on-year as per the figures released by the National Bureau of Statistics. This increase shows how much China is influential over the rare earth metals market — where it has monopoly over almost 70% of mining and 90% of the processing capacity.

Nevertheless, US Secretary of the Treasury Bessent, while discussing the issue, said that China would likely to reopen the door for soybeans imports and hold-off on new rare-earth export restrictions as trade discussions continue.

Through the weekend and despite the overall positive news, the likes of MP Materials (MP), USA Rare Earth (USAR), and NioCorp Developments (NB) saw declines on the stock market as a result of reduced tensions that lessened the demand for defensive positioning.

💡 Tech Movers: Qualcomm Soars 20% on AI Chip Reveal

The share price of Qualcomm (QCOM) skyrocketed nearly by 20% after revealing its AI200 and AI250 data center chips that use artificial intelligence and directly challenge Nvidia (NVDA) and AMD (AMD) in the rapidly expanding AI hardware market.

The AI200, which will be available in 2026, is going to be implemented by using a customized Hexagon NPU (Neural Processing Unit) and is being developed to enhance Qualcomm’s AI capability for enterprise and data center markets. AI250 will come in 2027, and a third chip series will be launched in 2028 along with the second one.

📊 Record Highs for Major Indexes

Not long after the market opened, all three major indexes ballooned to intraday records:

S&P 500: For the first time crossed the 6,850 mark

Dow Jones: Scored 47,532 points

Nasdaq Composite: Climbed above 23,560

As the market becomes increasingly optimistic about a breakthrough in trade relations, the likelihood of a rate cut by the Fed, and strong tech earnings, Wall Street seems all set to continue the record-breaking trend this week.