Post-Bell | Wall Street Ends With Modest Gains. NuScale Power Rockets 12%; The Metals, SharpLink Gaming Surge over 10% Each

Wall Street stocks closed marginally up on Monday as investors sidestepped any meaningful moves following U.S. President Donald Trump's latest tariff threats, and held steady ahead of a busy week of economic data and the start of earnings season.

Market Snapshot

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 88.14 points, or 0.20%, to 44,459.65, the S&P 500 rose 8.81 points, or 0.14%, to 6,268.56 and the Nasdaq Composite rose 54.8 points, or 0.27%, to 20,640.33.

Market Movers

Boeing gained 1.2%. A fuel switch malfunctionprobably caused last month's fatal crash of Air India flight 171, according to a preliminary report from India's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau. The crash doesn't appear to have anything to do with aircraft design or manufacturing. The report said there were "no recommended actions" for Boeing or GE Aerospace, which manufactured the jet's engines. GE shares were up 2%.

SharpLink Gaming up 10%; Strategy rose 3%, Coinbase Global gained 1.9%, and Robinhoods was up 1.1% as the Bitcoin-linked stocks followed the world's largest cryptocurrency higher. At last check, the price of Bitcoin had gained 0.7% to $119,925 over the past 24 hours. It set a record intraday high of $123,193, according to Dow Jones Market Data.

Rare earth stocks shined on Monday. NioCorp Developments Ltd. up 22%; The Metals Company up 10.8%; $USA Rare Earth$ up 10.6%. It has been well reported that rare earths are crucial to the wind, solar, battery, and electric vehicles industries.

Nvidia traded flat. The artificial-intelligence chip maker closed up 0.5% at $164.92 on Friday, marking a record high. The stock ended last week with a gain of 3.5%. CEO Jensen Huang will be in Beijing on Wednesday. The next catalyst for Nvidia could be securing permission to sell AI chips to China again.

Tesla rose 0.3%, extending gains from Friday. The electric-vehicle maker finished down 0.6% last week and have declined more than 22% this year. Rivian Automotive was down 3.1% after it was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Guggenheim following softer R1 sales and assumptions for softer long-term R2/R3 sales.

Autodesk climbed 5.9% after it appeared to have abandoned a bid for software company PTC. Last week, Bloomberg reported that Autodesk was weighing a bid for PTC; in a filing on Monday with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the company said it was focused on organic growth with "targeted and tuck-in acquisitions." Autodesk appears to have ruled out an acquisition the size of PTC at this time, Rosenblatt Securities analyst Blair Abernethy said. Shares of PTC declined 1.9%.

Kenvue gained 2.2%. The owner of Band-Aid, Tylenol, and other consumer-healthcare brands said its board was launching a strategic review to realize shareholder value and allow the company to "reach its full potential," including the appointment of Kirk Perry, a director, as interim CEO, replacing Thibaut Mongon.

Synopsys slipped 2% after gaining regulatory approval from China for its $35 billion acquisition of simulation software company Ansys, which was up 2.9%.

Waters declined 12% after Becton Dickinson's biosciences & diagnostic-solutions business agreed to merge with the laboratory instrument and software company in a deal valued around $17.5 billion. Becton Dickinson traded down 0.4%.

Fastenal was up 2.9% after reporting second-quarter earnings and revenue that slightly beat analysts' estimates. Operating-profit margins of 21% were a little better than expected, and were up 0.6 of a percentage point year over year.

Market News

Trump Launches Investigation of Drones, Setting Stage for Tariffs

The US Commerce Department launched investigations into imports of drones, parts for unmanned aerial vehicles and for polysilicon, a key material for solar power, setting the stage for possible tariffs on those goods.

The probes were launched on July 1 under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act, the latest use of that authority by President Donald Trump to review and impose sectoral-specific tariffs into industries deemed critical to national security.

EU Targets Boeing, US Cars and Bourbon With €72 Billion List

The European Union has finalized a second list of countermeasures to target US goods worth €72 billion, or $84 billion, including Boeing Co. aircraft, automobiles and bourbon if it decides to retaliate as transatlantic trade tensions intensify.

The additional duties would also be slapped on machinery products, chemicals and plastics, medical devices, electrical equipment, wines and other agricultural goods, according to a 206-page list prepared by the European Commission and seen by Bloomberg News.