US Stock Market

It probably feels like your portfolio finally caught a nice tailwind today — especially if you own tech or smaller, “spicier” names. The core story: chips and high‑octane stocks ripped higher, the rest of the market came along for the ride, and the economic backdrop stayed just strong enough to keep recession fears in the background.

What moved markets

All the major indexes were solidly green. The S&P 500 and Dow climbed, the Nasdaq did a bit better, and small caps jumped the most, with the Russell 2000 up close to 2%. That combination — big indexes up, small caps up even more — is a classic “risk-on” pattern.

Underneath, the economy delivered a “still growing, still a bit hot” message. Services activity stayed in expansion territory, new home sales beat prior readings, trade flows picked up, and a closely watched GDP estimate was nudged higher. At the same time, inflation pressures tied to the war in Iran and higher input costs (think aluminum and energy) haven’t gone away, they’re just not getting worse today.

Bond yields ticked slightly lower across most maturities and the VIX — the market’s fear gauge — slipped toward the high‑teens. So you had rising stocks, calmer volatility, and no fresh shock from interest rates.

Under the hood: who led the charge