S&P 500The index rose for the sixth straight session, closing within a step of a bull market. Any pullback, driven by the recent pause in the tariff war, could constitute a buying opportunity, according to several strategists.
NVIDIABecoming the focus of the market, the company released the latest technology aimed at sustaining the growth of AI computing power demand and ensuring that its products remain at the core of the industry.
JPMorgan ChaseClosing down 1%, Moody's Ratings downgraded its deposit ratings on a number of large banks, including the bank, citing Friday's downgrade of U.S. sovereign credit ratings and the government's weakened ability to support those banks.
U.S. SteelThe company closed up 3.2% as Japan Steel reportedly ramped up its investment commitment to U.S. steel, provided Trump approves the deal.
Moody's downgraded the U.S. credit rating from Aaa to Aa1 on Friday. The agency blamed successive administrations and Congress for the widening budget deficit, and said that there was no sign of narrowing at present; U.S. Treasury Secretary David Basent downplayed concerns, saying the Trump administration is determined to lower federal spending and boost economic growth.
"Monday's price action answers the question 'what if Moody's throws a downgrade party and nobody attends'," said BMO Capital Markets strategists Ian Lyngen and Vail Hartman, "and investors are clearly on Basent's side."
Thomas Lee, an analyst at Fundstrat Global Advisors, believes the Moody's downgrade is "basically not a big deal", while adding that he would be "buying big on the dip" if the stock market shows any signs of weakness.
"Moody's is citing what we know is that the U.S. has a huge deficit, so this is not 'surprising,'" Lee said, "and we doubt it would be surprising to any large fixed-income management company. There is simply no incremental information here."
Morgan StanleyMichael Wilson said investors should buy U.S. stocks on the dip once Friday's credit rating downgrade triggers a sell-off.
By the close, the S&P 500 was up 0.1% at 5,963.6; The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.3% to 42,792.07; The Nasdaq Composite Index was basically flat at 19,215.46 points; The Nasdaq 100 rose 0.1% to 21,447.05; The Russell 2000 fell 0.4% to 2,104.434.
