Tech Stocks Hit New Highs As AI Momentum Builds: What's Moving Markets Tuesday?

The Nasdaq 100 surged to fresh record highs on Tuesday, breaking above the 23,000 mark as Nvidia Corp. NVDA and other chipmakers powered a sharp rally. Investors cheered the news that Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices Inc. AMD would resume certain chip sales to China, even as they parsed quarterly results from major U.S. banks.

The iShares Semiconductor ETF SOXX climbed 1.6% to a new all-time high, extending its rally to 67% since the April lows.

Meanwhile, the White House confirmed that trade negotiations are ongoing with the EU, Japan, and South Korea, following the imposition of steep tariffs on imports from all three regions—measures that could trigger price surges starting in August.

On the macro front, U.S. inflation accelerated for a second straight month. The headline consumer price index rose 2.7% year-over-year in June, the highest since February and in line with expectations. However, core inflation, which strips out food and energy, came in slightly below forecasts at 2.9%, versus 3.0% expected.

The softer core reading reinforced market expectations for monetary easing, with futures now pricing in two rate cuts from the Federal Reserve by year-end.

Elsewhere in markets, the U.S. dollar index rose 0.44%, on track for a fourth consecutive daily gain. Gold dipped 0.7% to $3,325 per ounce, while silver slid 1.2%.

In crypto, Bitcoin BTC/USD fell 2.8%, on pace for its worst daily loss since late May.

Tuesday’s Performance In Major US Indices, ETFs

Major Indices	Price	Chg %
Nasdaq 100	22,974.53	0.5%
S&P 500	6,266.49	0.0%
Dow Jones	44,173.53	-0.6%
Russell 2000	2,224.92	-1.1%

According to Benzinga Pro data:

• The Vanguard S&P 500 ETF VOO flattened at $574.00.
• The SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average DIA dropped 0.6% to $441.81.
• The tech-heavy Invesco QQQ Trust Series QQQ rose 0.5% to $559.98.
• The iShares Russell 2000 ETF IWM tumbled 1.1% to $220.65.
• The Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund XLK outperformed, up 1.2%; the Materials Select Sector SPDR Fund XLB lagged, down 1.7%.

Tuesday’s Stock Movers

• BlackRock Inc. BLK slid 5.8% after its second-quarter revenue came in just below Wall Street estimates.
• Other stocks reacting to earnings included JPMorgan Chase & Co. JPM, down 0.6%, Citigroup Inc. C, up 2.3%, Wells Fargo Co. WFC, down 5%, State Street Corp. STT, down 3%.
• Newmont Corp. NEM dropped 8.1% after CFO Karyn Ovelmen resigned, effective July 11, 2025, with Peter Wexler named interim CFO.
• MP Materials Corp. MP soared 25% after Apple announced a $500 million deal to purchase rare-earth magnets from the company.

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