Silver Breaks Past 13-Year Highs, Small Caps Rise, Bitcoin Tops $108,000: What's Driving Markets Monday?

Wall Street opens the week on a quiet note, with major indexes steady as investors await potential trade breakthroughs during high-level U.S.-China talks in London.

The S&P 500 is flat at 6,000, holding near record highs after rallying nearly 25% since the April 7 low, while the Nasdaq 100 inched 0.3% higher to 21,830.

Small-cap stocks continue to outperform, extending their catch-up trade, with the Russell 2000 up 0.7% to its highest level since early March.

The lack of market-moving economic data kept the U.S. dollar and Treasury yields little changed. The 10-year yield holds around 4.47%, while the 30-year sits at 4.96%.

Gold resumed its upward trend, gaining 0.8% to $3,330 per ounce after two days of declines. But it’s silver that continues to steal the spotlight, surging nearly 2% to $36.67 per ounce — the highest level since February 2012 — and up more than 10% over the past week, as investors seek the next bullish trade in metals following gold’s 2025 breakout.

Other metals also rallied, with platinum up 4%, palladium rising 3.1% and copper gaining 2%.

Bitcoin BTC/USD attracted fresh bids, climbing above $108,000 to its highest level since May 29.

According to Benzinga Pro data:

• The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust SPY inched up by 0.2% to $600.02.
• The SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average DIA flattened at $428.36.
• The tech-heavy Invesco QQQ Trust Series QQQ rose 0.3% to $531.33.
• The iShares Russell 2000 ETF IWM rose 0.7% to $213.34.
• The Materials Select Sector SPDR Fund XLB outperformed, up 0.9%; the Financials Select Sector SPDR Fund XLF lagged, down 0.7%.