Dow closes at a record high. S&P is higher, and the NASDAQ index is down on the day
The Dow industrial average closed sharply higher with a gain of 1.73%.
Looking at the Dow 30 snapshot:
Overall Tone: Mostly positive, with a bullish lean
- 22 stocks up / 8 stocks down
- The gainers were led by UnitedHealth (+5.18%), Goldman Sachs (+4.91%), and Merck (+4.86%) — all seeing meaningful moves
- Financials dominated the top of the leaderboard (GS, AXP, JPM all in the top 5)
On the downside, losses were relatively contained:
- Verizon (-3.82%) and Honeywell (-2.52%) were the worst performers
- Coca-Cola (-2.44%) and IBM (-1.25%) also dragged
- Most decliners were off less than 1%, suggesting no broad panic selling
Notable observations:
- Goldman Sachs had an impressive absolute move, up over $51 to $1,092
- Caterpillar also stood out with a +$14 gain to $940
- Tech was quiet — Apple (+0.31%) and Microsoft (+0.17%) barely moved; NVIDIA was a modest bright spot at +1.97%
- Walt Disney was essentially flat (-0.06%)
Bottom line: A solid up day for the Dow, driven largely by healthcare and financials, with tech sitting on the sidelines and telecom/consumer staples lagging.
Looking at other indices,
- The S&P index rose 30.65 points or 0.41% at 7584.32.
- The NASDAQ index felt -23.02 points or -0.09% to 26,830.96:
Some movers today include:
- Broadcom which fell sharply after is earnings report after the close yesterday. The stock was down $-60.32 or -12.59% at $418.91. Yesterday, the price traded at a new all-time high of $495. Since the March 30 low, the price had risen by 70%,
- AMD shares also also fell with a decline of -3.56%. Since March 30, the price moved up to an all-time high yesterday at $546.44. That was a gain of 183% over 45 days.
- Micron shares also took a breather after its run to an all-time high yesterday of $1089.29. Since March 30, it’s price has soared by close to 250% over 45 trading days.
- Marvel shares continued its upside momentum with a gain of 4.9% to $316.43. Recall earlier this week, Nvidia’s Jensen Huang said that marvel would be a $1 trillion company (its market capitalization is now 276 billion).. Since time the price is up 47.75%. If Jensen Huang is right there is room to roam.
Looking at this list of top gainers today, a few clear themes emerge:
🏦 Financials are on fire
Goldman Sachs, PNC Financial, Citigroup, American Express, Morgan Stanley, and Wells Fargo all posting strong gains of ~3.7–4.9%. This looks like a broad-based financials rally — could be driven by favorable rate expectations, strong earnings, or macro optimism.
🏥 Healthcare & Biotech surging
ARKG (genomic ETF), Moderna, Merck, Eli Lilly, and CVS all moving sharply higher. Eli Lilly’s +4.32% on a $1,125 stock is a massive absolute move (+$46). Biotech/pharma is clearly in favor today — possibly a sector rotation or positive clinical/regulatory news.
🛡️ Defense getting a bid
RTX Corp (+3.98%) and the Defiance Drone & Modern Warfare ETF (JEDI, +4.79%) both gaining meaningfully, suggesting defense spending themes remain strong — drones and next-gen warfare in particular.
💻 Semis & Tech selectively
Marvell (+4.89%) stands out as the tech winner, likely AI/semiconductor demand driven.
📱 Retail & Speculative names joining the party
Robinhood (+6.61%) and Macy’s (+5.64%) popping suggests some risk-on appetite and possibly short-covering in beaten-down names.
Bottom line: Today’s winners tell a story of risk-on rotation into financials, healthcare/biotech, and defense — with speculative names catching a bid alongside the quality plays.
Below is a list of some top gainers today:
This article was written by Greg Michalowski at investinglive.com.