Stock Market Today: Nasdaq Nabs New High as Nvidia Stock Soars
Nvidia stock popped on a strong round of funding for Elon Musk's AI startup.


Stocks were mixed to start the holiday-shortened week as investors looked ahead to this Friday's key inflation update. Despite the diverging price action, one of the three main benchmarks ended the day at a new record closing high.
Specifically, the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.6% to 17,019, its highest finish ever. The S&P 500, meanwhile, eked out a marginal gain at 5,306, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.6% to 38,852.
Helping boost the tech-heavy Nasdaq was a major rally in chipmaker Nvidia (NVDA). Indeed, the Magnificent 7 stock soared 7%, gaining more than $180 billion in market value along the way. To put this figure in perspective, it's roughly equivalent to the entire market cap of fellow blue chip stock McDonald's (MCD, -1.8%).

Sign up for Kiplinger’s Free E-Newsletters
Profit and prosper with the best of expert advice on investing, taxes, retirement, personal finance and more - straight to your e-mail.
Profit and prosper with the best of expert advice - straight to your e-mail.
Boosting shares was news that Elon Musk's artificial intelligence startup, xAI, raised $6 billion over the weekend in its latest round of fundraising, valuing the company at $24 billion. However, today's upside is just more of the same for NVDA, which has nearly tripled in the past 12 months.
At $1,140 per share, NVDA is currently beyond the reach of most retail traders looking to buy individual shares. Still, the mega-cap stock is broadly owned in many funds, so it's likely that investors already have exposure to Nvidia. This makes the company's upcoming stock split somewhat of an inconsequential event.
Hess shareholders approve Chevron buyout
In other single-stock news, Chevron (CVX) was one of the best Dow Jones stock today, rising 0.8% after Hess (HES, +0.4%) shareholders approved a $53 billion merger with the oil major.
CVX first announced its intention to buy the oil exploration and production company last October. While today's vote clears one hurdle for Chevron, there are others it faces before its acquisition of Hess can proceed.
First is clearance from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), which Susquehanna International Group analyst Biju Perincheril believes could happen within the next month or so.
"The last gating item would be arbitration proceedings with Exxon Mobil (XOM, +1.3%), where our understanding is that a final ruling could stretch to the fourth quarter of this year (unless the two parties reach some sort of a settlement earlier)," Perincheril writes in a note to clients.
Consumer confidence ticks higher in May
Meanwhile, on today's economic calendar, data from The Conference Board showed its Consumer Confidence Index rose to 102.0 in May from 97.5 in April.
"Confidence improved in May after three consecutive months of decline," said Dana Peterson, chief economist at The Conference Board, boosted by a strong employment backdrop. "Views of current labor market conditions improved in May, as fewer respondents said jobs were 'hard to get,' which outweighed a slight decline in the number who said jobs were 'plentiful,'" Peterson added.
Fed's favorite inflation measure is due out Friday
Most investors are looking ahead to this Friday's release of the Personal Consumption and Expenditures (PCE) Price Index – the Fed's preferred gauge of inflation that measures consumer spending.
An extension of the stock market's recent rally "could depend on whether investors still feel positive about rate cuts after this week's numbers," says Chris Larkin, managing director of trading and investing at E*TRADE from Morgan Stanley.
Market participants have come to terms with the fact that the first rate cut will come in September at the earliest. However, "more sticky inflation data still has the potential to trigger market volatility," Larkin adds.
Related content
- When Is the Next CPI Report?
- Kiplinger's Earnings Calendar for This Week
- What Will the Stock Market Do as Election Nears?
Get Kiplinger Today newsletter — free
Profit and prosper with the best of Kiplinger's advice on investing, taxes, retirement, personal finance and much more. Delivered daily. Enter your email in the box and click Sign Me Up.

With over a decade of experience writing about the stock market, Karee Venema is the senior investing editor at Kiplinger.com. She joined the publication in April 2021 after 10 years of working as an investing writer and columnist at a local investment research firm. In her previous role, Karee focused primarily on options trading, as well as technical, fundamental and sentiment analysis.
-
Social Security Is Taxable, But There Are Workarounds
If you're strategic about your retirement account withdrawals, you can potentially minimize the taxes you'll pay on your Social Security benefits.
By Todd Talbot, CFP®, NSSA, CTS™
-
Serious Medical Diagnosis? Four Financial Steps to Take
A serious medical diagnosis calls for updates of your financial, health care and estate plans as well as open conversations with those who'll fulfill your wishes.
By Thomas C. West, CLU®, ChFC®, AIF®
-
Social Security Is Taxable, But There Are Workarounds
If you're strategic about your retirement account withdrawals, you can potentially minimize the taxes you'll pay on your Social Security benefits.
By Todd Talbot, CFP®, NSSA, CTS™
-
Serious Medical Diagnosis? Four Financial Steps to Take
A serious medical diagnosis calls for updates of your financial, health care and estate plans as well as open conversations with those who'll fulfill your wishes.
By Thomas C. West, CLU®, ChFC®, AIF®
-
What Wall Street's CEOs Are Saying About Trump's Tariffs
We're in the thick of earnings season and corporate America has plenty to say about the Trump administration's trade policy.
By Karee Venema
-
To Stay on Track for Retirement, Consider Doing This
Writing down your retirement and income plan in an investment policy statement can help you resist letting a bear market upend your retirement.
By Matt Green, Investment Adviser Representative
-
How to Make Changing Interest Rates Work for Your Retirement
Higher (or lower) rates can be painful in some ways and helpful in others. The key is being prepared to take advantage of the situation.
By Phil Cooper
-
When to Sell Your Stock
Knowing when to sell a stock is a major decision investors must make. While there's no one correct answer, we look at some best practices here.
By Charles Lewis Sizemore, CFA
-
Within Five Years of Retirement? Five Things to Do Now
If you're retiring in the next five years, your to-do list should contain some financial planning and, according to current retirees, a few life goals, too.
By Evan T. Beach, CFP®, AWMA®
-
The Home Stretch: Seven Essential Steps for Pre-Retirees
The decade before retirement is the home stretch in the race to quit work — but there are crucial financial decisions to make before you reach the finish line.
By Mike Dullaghan, AIF®