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Dow gains 500 points as Wall Street embraces robust corporate earnings

<i>Spencer Platt/Getty Images via CNN Newsource</i><br/>Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange on October 17.

By CNN Newsource

Published October 20, 2025 1:27 pm

By Lucy Bayly, John Towfighi, CNN

New York (CNN) — Wall Street kicked off a new week in high gear as optimism rose that the 20-day shutdown of the federal government could soon draw to a close.

National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett told CNBC Monday he believes the shutdown is “likely to end sometime this week” and that the Trump administration would implement punitive new measures if Democrats in the Senate continue to hold out.

Traders are also feeling hopeful that the latest round of earnings reports will reveal positive corporate growth despite uncertainty in the economy. Around 86% of companies in the S&P 500 that have reported so far this quarter have beaten expectations, according to FactSet.

The Dow closed higher by 516 points on Monday, or 1.12%, partly fueled by shares of Apple (AAPL), which gained 3.94% and hit their first record high of the year after a report showed robust sales of the iPhone 17 model in the United States and China. The iPhone Air sold out in China just minutes after its launch, according to the South China Morning Post.

The S&P 500 gained 1.07%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq gained 1.37%. Wall Street’s fear gauge, the VIX, sank 12%.

Markets took a nosedive earlier this month after President Donald Trump threatened to substantially raise tariffs on China after it pulled back on exports of its valuable rare earth minerals, which are required in the production of electronics. The Dow plunged by nearly 900 points October 10 on fears of an escalation in the trade war between the world’s two largest economies. But Trump has since walked back those threats, noting that massive tariffs on China simply aren’t a sustainable option.

Investors now turn their focus to Big Tech: “The stock market’s next big test may be big tech earnings towards the end of October and into November, as investors will be looking for more clarity on how spending on artificial intelligence is leading to profitability,” wrote Rick Gardner, chief investment officer at RGA Investments.

The so-called Magnificent Seven stocks — Meta (META), Amazon (AMZN), Tesla (TSLA), Nvidia (NVDA), Microsoft (MSFT), Alphabet (GOOG) and Apple — have contributed 41% of the S&P’s gains this year, according to Howard Silverblatt, senior index analyst at S&P Dow Jones Indices. Most Mag Seven companies are reporting their third-quarter earnings this month.

Meanwhile, gold and silver futures soared 4.3% and 3.3% on Monday, respectively, as investors continue to scoop up safe havens to hedge against lingering uncertainty.