Stock Market Today, June 29, 2026: Dow Closes at Record; S&P 500, Nasdaq Rebound

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at a record Monday and finished above 52,000 for the first time, as stocks opened the holiday-shortened week with a broad rally led by technology shares. The Nasdaq Composite rose 2.1%, the S&P 500 gained 1.2% and the Dow added 0.6%. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq each snapped five-session losing streaks as technology stocks recovered from last week’s selloff. Five of the Magnificent Seven mega-cap technology stocks finished higher, led by Tesla.

Company news added to the gains:

• Comcast laid out a plan to spin off NBCUniversal.
• SpaceX was confirmed for the Nasdaq 100.
• Strategy announced a bitcoin sale paired with a share buyback.
• Charter Communications rallied on a report of talks with SpaceX.
• Rocket Lab agreed to buy Iridium Communications for about $8 billion.

Verizon was the main drag. It fell to the bottom of the S&P 500 after projecting a second-quarter loss on the same day it left the Dow.

Outside the stock market, the Supreme Court ruled that Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook can stay in her seat for now. Oil rose after weekend military strikes between the U.S. and Iran, and gold fell. Monday was the first of four sessions this week, with stock and bond markets closed Friday for Independence Day.

Tech Stocks Lead the Rebound After a Five-Day Slide

Monday’s gains followed a losing week. Over the previous five sessions, the Nasdaq lost 4.6% and the S&P 500 lost 2%, and both indexes closed lower on every day of that stretch. Technology stocks drove most of the decline. On Monday, the stocks that had fallen hardest led the recovery.

The rebound was signaled before the opening bell. Futures contracts tied to the Dow pointed 0.4% higher in early trading, and buying picked up once the cash session began.

Five of the Magnificent Seven finished the session higher:

• Tesla (TSLA) led the group with a gain of about 8.5%.
• Alphabet (GOOGL) rose about 4.5% on its first day as a member of the Dow.
• Amazon (AMZN) traded well above Friday’s close for most of the session.

Gains in those large technology names lifted the S&P 500 and especially the Nasdaq.

The Nasdaq’s 2.1% gain led the three benchmarks, ahead of the S&P 500’s 1.2% and the Dow’s 0.6%. The Dow was the only one of the three to finish at a record. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq recovered part of last week’s losses but remain below their highs. The Dow had posted a smaller decline last week, and Monday’s advance carried it to a new closing high above 52,000.

Several sectors had their own catalysts:

• Media and cable: Comcast and Charter Communications rose on a planned spinoff and a reported partnership discussion.
• Space: SpaceX gained on its index confirmation, and Rocket Lab and Iridium Communications rose on their merger announcement.
• Crypto-linked stocks: Strategy jumped on its bitcoin plan.
• Telecom: Verizon, down about 6.5%, led S&P 500 decliners.

The benchmark’s chart and performance history are on the S&P 500 index page.

Alphabet Makes Its Dow Debut in Place of Verizon

Monday was Alphabet’s first trading day as a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average. S&P Dow Jones Indices announced the change the previous Wednesday, saying the Google parent would take Verizon’s place in the 30-stock index ahead of Monday’s open.

Alphabet rose about 4.5% and led the Dow’s gainers in its first session in the blue-chip index. The advance came on a day when nearly all large technology stocks were rising, and Alphabet’s gain was in line with the rebound across the group.

The swap removed the one major telecom carrier the Dow held. Verizon’s exit from the index and its same-day loss projection were separate events, and both landed on Monday.

Verizon Sinks on a Projected Second-Quarter Loss

Verizon (VZ) fell about 6.5%, the largest decline in the S&P 500. In a regulatory filing, the company said it expects a second-quarter loss of $700 million to $800 million.

The company said the projected loss reflects the classification of certain assets and liabilities as held for sale in connection with a joint venture with British telecom company BT Group.

Verizon also detailed two sets of charges for the quarter:

• Severance: a charge of $350 million to $450 million tied to “continued headcount reduction initiatives.”
• Asset rationalization: $200 million to $300 million in charges, which the company said are mainly related to its decision to stop using certain real estate and network assets as part of its transformation initiatives.

Before Monday, Verizon shares were up about 7% for the year. That was slightly behind the S&P 500’s roughly 8% gain over the same period. Monday’s drop erased most of the stock’s advance for 2026.

Comcast to Spin Off NBCUniversal

Comcast (CMCSA) said it plans to separate its media and technology businesses by spinning off NBCUniversal around this time next year. NBCUniversal includes:

• the NBC and Telemundo networks
• Sky
• the Peacock streaming service
• the Universal film studio
• the company’s theme parks

The stock closed up about 4.5%. In premarket trading it had been indicated up more than 22%, and most of that early gain faded by the close.

After the separation, Comcast will operate only its broadband and wireless business, providing internet and cell service under the Comcast and Xfinity brands. It plans to keep a 19.9% stake in NBCUniversal. Comcast shareholders would end up holding shares in both companies.

The plan includes leadership changes. Brian Roberts will serve as co-CEO of the combined company until the split. At that point, co-CEO Mike Cavanagh will take over NBCUniversal, and former chief financial officer Michael Angelakis will return as CEO of Comcast.

Roberts said the new NBCUniversal will be “well-positioned to pursue the significant opportunities that lie ahead, to partner across the media and entertainment ecosystem, and will be poised to grow.”

Comcast held a conference call Monday morning to discuss the separation. It reports quarterly earnings on July 23, when it is expected to give more detail on the plan.

SpaceX Rises on Confirmation of Nasdaq 100 Entry

Shares of SpaceX (SPCX), the space and satellite company led by Elon Musk, rose about 7%. Late Friday, Nasdaq said the stock will join the Nasdaq 100 before the open on Monday, July 7.

The stock moved gradually through the session. In premarket trading it was up about 1.5%, at just above $155, before extending its gain during regular hours.

SpaceX went public earlier this month. Its addition follows five other changes to the index that Nasdaq announced earlier in June as part of its periodic rebalancing.

The inclusion was widely expected. Ahead of SpaceX’s June 12 initial public offering, Nasdaq and other index providers changed their rules to speed the path of very large IPOs into their benchmarks. Those changes were aimed at SpaceX and at other potential mega-listings, including expected offerings from AI developers Anthropic and OpenAI.

The stock still rose on the formal confirmation. Inclusion means funds tracking the Nasdaq 100 must buy the shares, and the Invesco QQQ Trust is the best known of those funds.

Several indexes had already added SpaceX, which led to purchases by index funds at Vanguard, BlackRock and other asset managers. Active managers were also buying. Trade disclosures showed that several of Cathie Wood’s Ark Investment Management funds, including the flagship Ark Innovation ETF (ARKK), bought SpaceX shares on Friday.

The stock’s first two weeks of trading were volatile:

• IPO price: $135 a share.
• Opening trade: $150.
• Since then: it has traded above $226 and has dipped below the $150 opening price.
• Last week’s close: a little above $153, roughly where it first opened.

The stock has not fallen back toward its $135 IPO price.

Weighting Rule Caps SpaceX’s Index Share

SpaceX’s weight in the Nasdaq 100 is governed by the fast-tracking rule Nasdaq put into effect in May. Float is the portion of a company’s shares available for the public to trade. Under the rule, a company whose float is less than 33.3% of its total shares is weighted at no more than three times its float value.

SpaceX’s float is about 550 million shares. As of March 2026, a company with a float valued at $180 billion carried a 1% weight in the Nasdaq 100. On that basis, SpaceX is expected to enter the index with a weight below 1%. Final weights depend on prices when the change takes effect.

New Nasdaq 100 Funds Challenge QQQ

The Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) is one of the largest ETFs, with roughly $480 billion in assets, according to VettaFi. Nearly three decades after its launch, it now faces competition from two of the biggest ETF issuers, State Street (STT) and BlackRock (BLK).

The new and planned funds compare as follows:

• State Street’s SPDR Portfolio Nasdaq 100 ETF (QNDX) began trading last week with an expense ratio of 0.10%, below QQQ’s current 0.18%.
• BlackRock’s iShares filed in April for its own Nasdaq 100 product under the ticker IQQ and has not disclosed its fee.

The spread of Nasdaq 100 funds stands to add buyers for SpaceX. Once the company is a member, money flowing into any of those funds will include an allocation to its shares in line with its index weight.

Charter Climbs on Report of SpaceX Talks

Charter Communications (CHTR) jumped more than 9%. Bloomberg reported that the cable operator had discussed a mobile phone partnership with SpaceX. Charter was among the session’s largest gainers and one of several stocks that rose on company-specific news Monday.

The report linked Charter to the day’s other SpaceX headline, the confirmation that SpaceX will join the Nasdaq 100. Charter’s gain came alongside Comcast’s spinoff news, which put both large U.S. cable operators among the day’s notable movers.

Rocket Lab Agrees to Buy Iridium for About $8 Billion

Rocket Lab (RKLB) agreed to acquire satellite communications network provider Iridium Communications (IRDM) for $54 a share in cash and stock, a deal valued at about $8 billion. In premarket trading, Iridium shares jumped about 22% to around $53, and Rocket Lab shares rose about 13%.

Rocket Lab describes itself as providing “launch services, spacecraft, payloads and satellite components serving commercial, government, and national security markets.” It said combining with Iridium would create “a fully vertically integrated space powerhouse primed for growth.”

The main terms are:

• Consideration: Iridium shareholders will receive $27 in cash plus Rocket Lab shares at closing.
• Timing: the deal is expected to close in mid-2027.
• Financing: Rocket Lab has commitments for a $3.6 billion, 364-day senior secured bridge term loan facility from Deutsche Bank and Wells Fargo.

The company said it intends to fund the cash portion “through a combination of cash from its balance sheet and other debt and equity financing sources.”

Both stocks had run up before the announcement. Iridium entered the week up about 150% for the year, and Rocket Lab was up about 21%. The deal adds to a busy stretch for space-related stocks, which also includes SpaceX’s IPO and index additions.

Amazon Rises on Prime Day Spending and Cloud Price Increases

Amazon shares were up more than 3% in afternoon trading, after rising as much as 7% earlier in the session. The stock was among the Dow’s leading gainers on a strong day for technology shares. Two developments helped: signs of strong spending during its four-day Prime Day event and demand for its cloud computing services.

Adobe’s analysis reportedly found that U.S. online spending across retailers reached $26.4 billion during the Prime Day event, ahead of Adobe’s own projection. That figure covers online retail broadly, not only Amazon’s sales.

JPMorgan analysts estimated Monday that Prime Day lifted Amazon’s sales compared with last year’s event:

• Third-party sales: up 6% per day of the event.
• First-party Amazon product sales: up 7% per day.

The cloud news came late last week. Amazon Web Services said it will raise prices for reserved access to hardware used to train and run AI models, effective at the start of July. AWS said its prices are “updated periodically based on supply and demand.” Prices for those compute reservations are reportedly rising by about 20%, following a 15% increase earlier this year.

Strategy to Sell $1.25 Billion of Bitcoin; Stock Jumps

Strategy (MSTR) is the enterprise software company best known for accumulating bitcoin on its balance sheet. It said it plans to sell $1.25 billion of bitcoin, roughly 21,000 coins at recent prices. It also announced plans to buy back shares and raise the dividend on its preferred stock.

The common stock rose more than 12%. Its “Stretch” preferred shares, which trade as STRC, posted a similar gain. Bitcoin drifted toward $60,000 during the session.

Monday is the day Strategy usually announces bitcoin purchases. This time it announced a sale, which it called a bitcoin “monetization program.”

The announcement followed a rough week for the company’s securities. As bitcoin fell to fresh lows, Strategy’s common stock dropped to levels last seen in 2024, and STRC slid almost 30% below its par value. With bitcoin at about half of last year’s record high, the company is moving to support its range of crypto-linked securities.

Pressure on the Stretch Preferred

Stretch pays holders a variable dividend twice a month. Strategy sets the rate with the aim of keeping STRC’s price close to its $100 par value.

When the shares fell well below par, speculation grew about two things: how high the dividend would have to go to pull them back up, and whether the company could keep funding those payments while bitcoin was falling.

The sale gives Strategy cash for dividends and buybacks without issuing new stock at depressed prices. It also means a company built around holding bitcoin is reducing its holdings for the first time in this cycle of announcements.

Bitcoin Near Its Lowest Since 2024

Bitcoin traded around $60,400 on Monday afternoon. That was up over the previous 24 hours but near its lowest price since 2024. The world’s largest cryptocurrency by market value has fallen more than 30% this year and has underperformed U.S. stocks, gold and crude oil over that stretch.

Bitcoin peaked at about $126,000 in October. It has since lost half its value, erasing more than $2 trillion in market capitalization.

The decline has spread to crypto-related stocks. Coinbase (COIN), Circle (CRCL) and Bullish (BLSH) were each down at least 7% for the year through Friday’s close.

The selloff has weakened two arguments often made for bitcoin: that it is a high-growth risk asset, and that it is a hedge. Some market watchers say momentum-driven traders have moved to faster-moving trades, including:

• AI-linked stocks
• oil-related assets
• gold, despite its own slide
• the SpaceX IPO

“If you were a value investor, you’d be buying at these prices,” Jim Ferraioli, director of crypto research and strategy at Charles Schwab, said at a mid-June panel. “But that’s not how crypto investors work. They’re chasing momentum.”

Oil, Gold, Treasuries and the Dollar

Oil prices rose after the U.S. and Iran exchanged military strikes over the weekend, even though the two countries agreed to resume peace talks.

• WTI crude: West Texas Intermediate futures, the U.S. benchmark, were up 1.8% at $70.45 a barrel at 4 p.m. ET.
• Brent crude: front-month futures, the global benchmark, settled up 1.6% at $73.15.
• Gold: futures fell 1.6% to $4,030 an ounce.
• Dollar: the U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of foreign currencies, slipped 0.3% to 101.10.
• Treasuries: the 10-year yield was little changed from Friday’s close above 4.37%. That yield influences rates on a range of consumer loans, including mortgages.

Gold and Silver Extend Their Slide

Gold was already struggling before Fed Chair Kevin Warsh delivered a hawkish message earlier this month. That message led Wall Street to price in the possibility of higher interest rates and pushed precious metals to new lows. The Fed’s renewed focus on inflation weighed on gold because yield-bearing assets such as Treasury notes draw relatively more demand when rates are high.

Spot gold, recently around $4,100 per troy ounce, has fallen about 5% this year. It is about 27% below its January record of $5,600.

Silver rallied even harder than gold last year and has fallen further since. It is down roughly 50% from its all-time high near $122 and about 17% this year.

The declines reverse part of last year’s run. Gold gained about 65% in 2025 and silver about 150%, placing both among the best-performing financial assets.

Commodities analysts and portfolio strategists have turned more negative on gold’s near-term outlook, citing shifting expectations for monetary policy. Some still see room for a second-half recovery, mainly because prices have already fallen so far from their highs.

Supreme Court Lets Fed Governor Cook Stay for Now

The biggest financial headline outside the stock market came from the Supreme Court. In a 5-4 decision, the justices denied the Trump administration’s request to remove Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook immediately. Cook can remain in her seat while a lower court decides the case.

The dispute began last August, when the administration accused Cook of falsifying mortgage documents.

Writing for the majority, Chief Justice John Roberts said Cook could remain on the job while the lower court determines whether the accusations meet the “for cause” standard. Federal law requires the president to meet that standard to remove a Fed governor. The central bank operates as an independent institution within the federal government, outside the direct control of the White House.

The Fed’s seven-member Board of Governors makes up the majority of the Federal Open Market Committee, the body that sets the benchmark federal funds rate. The ruling is a setback for President Donald Trump’s efforts to reshape the central bank by installing more of his own appointees on the board. The case is not over, and the lower court’s decision on the “for cause” question will determine whether Cook keeps her seat.

The Fed Under Kevin Warsh

Fed Chair Kevin Warsh is weighing changes that go beyond where rates should be set. Policymakers face three near-term options:

• hold rates steady
• raise them if the inflation effects of the Iran war persist
• cut them if those effects fade

Warsh has also opened a broader review of how the Fed should conduct policy beyond 2026, starting with a series of task forces. The overhaul could affect household borrowing costs for years.

Some changes are already in place. The Fed’s policy statement under Warsh is much shorter and no longer includes “forward guidance,” the hints about future rate moves that markets have relied on for years. The change leaves markets with fewer signals about the Fed’s next step.

At least half of Fed policymakers expect to raise the benchmark rate this year, and Warsh has emphasized the Fed’s mandate to keep prices stable. Inflation has climbed to its highest level in three years, driven in part by what has been described as the largest oil supply shock in history. Historical comparisons are on the U.S. inflation rate by year page.

Earnings Drive the Second-Half Outlook

The prevailing view on Wall Street heading into the second half of 2026 is that strong corporate earnings can keep the bull market going despite higher rates and geopolitical risk. The S&P 500 was up more than 7% for the year through Friday, though the path was uneven.

The benchmark came close to a correction in March, when the war in Iran pushed oil prices and bond yields higher. It then rallied sharply from those lows and set a series of records in April and May before pausing in June. Last week’s tech selloff was part of that pause.

The index set those records even as the oil shock pushed inflation to a three-year high. Capital Group attributed the market’s strength to earnings, saying they are “on a tear.” S&P 500 profits rose 28% year over year in the first quarter, the fastest growth since 2021.

Fidelity analysts wrote that the market is seeing growth rates typical of the early stages of an economic recovery, not of a record-setting bull market more than four years old. Wells Fargo data show the strength was not anticipated. Actual earnings growth this year is beating Wall Street’s start-of-year estimates by a wider margin than in any year since its data began in 1991, outside of recession rebounds.

The risks are the ones that briefly derailed stocks in March: higher oil prices, rising yields and a Fed that may raise rates instead of cutting them.

Labor Market Holds Steady

The labor market has settled into a pattern in which finding a new job is hard but keeping one is relatively easy. Economists see little that is likely to change that in the coming months, assuming the economic disruption from the Iran war keeps fading.

Key figures:

• Unemployment: 4.3% in May, low by historical standards, while hiring and job openings remain subdued.
• Payrolls: employers added 172,000 jobs in May, more than expected and the third straight monthly gain. March, April and May all posted unexpectedly strong six-figure gains.

Many forecasters expect unemployment to stay near its current level, though their job-growth forecasts differ.

Goldman Sachs economists expect the job market to stay on its current path but with slower hiring. They forecast about 60,000 jobs a month in the second half, less than a third of the spring pace. That would be slightly more than Goldman estimates is needed to keep unemployment stable.

Workers remain wary. In the University of Michigan’s Survey of Consumer Sentiment, 54% of Americans said they expect unemployment to rise over the next year. That level of pessimism is comparable to the Great Recession.

What Comes Next This Week

Holiday Schedule and the June Jobs Report

Stock and bond markets will be closed Friday for Independence Day, which falls on a Saturday this year. Thursday is the last trading day of the week.

The schedule for the rest of the week:

• Tuesday: the Conference Board releases its Consumer Confidence Index.
• During the week: results from major retailers.
• Thursday: the June employment report, a day earlier than usual because of the holiday.

The jobs data arrive with the Fed weighing higher rates, and the payroll and unemployment figures will feed into that debate. Coverage of the jobs-day session is in the July 2 market report.

Nike Reports Tuesday

Nike (NKE) reports quarterly results after the close Tuesday. Options pricing implies the stock could move up to about 8% in either direction by the end of the week. From Friday’s close just under $41, a decline of that size would take the shares below $38, their lowest level in 12 years. A gain of that size would lift them above $43.

The shares have fallen 36% this year on concerns about CEO Elliott Hill’s turnaround plan, which he has led since late 2024.

Nike also has a leadership change underway. A week before the report, the company said Pfizer (PFE) CFO David Denton will become Nike’s chief financial officer on Aug. 16. Current CFO Matthew Friend will step down from the role and leave the company on Sept. 4.

UBS analysts recently lowered their price target on Nike to $50 from $54. They said their checks across the athletic apparel industry pointed to “lackluster global sales momentum” through May. They expect a conservative forecast for the current quarter, with longer-term targets likely held until Nike’s investor day in the fall.

SpaceX Index Entry on July 7

SpaceX’s addition to the Nasdaq 100 takes effect before the open on Monday, July 7, after the holiday break. With markets closed Friday, Thursday is the last trading session before the change. Comcast’s July 23 earnings report is the next scheduled update on its NBCUniversal spinoff.