The S&P 500 added 0.9% on Monday, June 16, as investors absorbed the possibility of cooling geopolitical tensions and looked ahead to this week’s Federal Reserve meeting. AMD shares surged as analysts reacted favorably to the chipmaker’s recent “Advancing AI” event. Aerospace and defense stocks moved lower as the possibility of a ceasefire between Iran and Israel emerged.
Major U.S. equities indexes pushed higher following reports that Iran is willing to return to negotiations over its nuclear program, aiming to ease hostilities with Israel. In addition to the rapidly shifting geopolitical landscape, investors are focused on the Federal Reserve’s upcoming meeting and possible tariff developments. Market activity will pause on Thursday for the Juneteenth holiday.
The S&P 500 added 0.9%, while the Dow increased by 0.8%. Outperformance in the communication and technology sectors helped lift the Nasdaq, which advanced 1.5%. Shares of beauty products maker Estée Lauder jumped 10.8%, logging the top daily performance in the S&P 500.
The company announced over the weekend that Leonard Lauder, former CEO and eldest son of the company’s namesake founder, had passed away at 92. Lauder was a driving force behind the makeup giant’s global expansion. Analysts at Piper Sandler raised their price target on Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) stock following the chipmaker’s event last week.
The Piper Sandler team highlighted enthusiasm around AMD’s freshly unveiled Helios server rack architecture, which will combine the company’s next-generation AMD MI400 chips into one larger system, anticipated for release in 2026.
Tech stocks lift Nasdaq higher
AMD shares surged 8.8% on Monday.
MGM Resorts International shares gained 8.1% after the casino operator and its London-listed partner, Entain, expanded their co-owned sports betting and iGaming platform. Shares of hotel and casino rivals Las Vegas Sands and Wynn Resorts also moved higher. Aerospace and defense stocks surged at the end of last week as Israel and Iran exchanged attacks.
However, on Monday, Lockheed Martin shares dropped 4%, the most of any S&P 500 stock. Shares of fellow defense contractors Northrop Grumman and L3Harris were down 3.7% and 3.6%, respectively. Shares of Charter Communications sank 3.5% on Monday following reports of outages for the telecom firm’s Spectrum internet and cable services in Southern California.
Charter indicated that the outages were related to an act of vandalism. Shares of certain pharmaceutical companies were down on Monday. Analysts expressed concerns about overall RSV vaccination rates in the U.S. and uncertainties over how Health Secretary Robert F.
Kennedy Jr.’s overhaul of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s vaccine advisory committee could affect future recommendations. Investors are monitoring a range of factors this week, including geopolitical developments and the Federal Reserve’s upcoming meeting. The market will observe a break for Juneteenth, but the movement in tech and communication sectors, as well as ongoing evaluations of AMD’s new tech offerings, indicate continued market vibrancy.