Stocks Rally to Fresh Highs as Powell Investigation Casts a Cautionary Shadow
U.S. stock indexes closed at or near records with the S&P 500 and Dow hitting new highs as tech and consumer shares led gains, even as Fed Chair Powell faces a criminal probe that injects caution into markets. Gold and silver surged to record-like levels amid a weaker dollar, while Alphabet’s market-cap milestone followed Apple’s plan to use Google’s Gemini for AI features, Walmart joined the Nasdaq-100, and a wave of earnings and 52-week highs underscored ongoing market activity.