NEW YORK, June 29, 2026, 11:04 EDT
- The Dow added 0.43% in a MarketWatch readout, ahead of the S&P 500, up 0.19%, and the Nasdaq, which rose 0.30%.
- Amazon.com NASDAQ:AMZN and Alphabet Inc. Class A NASDAQ:GOOGL made up about 133 points of the Dow’s move according to price weighting, or around 60% of the reported Dow rise.
- Alphabet took Verizon Communications’ NYSE:VZ spot before the bell. S&P Dow Jones Indices said Verizon’s lower share price left it with just a 0.5% weight.
U.S. stocks traded during regular New York hours. NYSE core trading is open 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. ET. According to the exchange calendar, July 3 is the next closure for Independence Day in 2026, not June 29.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average traded at 52,097.24, gaining 221.13 points, or 0.43%, according to MarketWatch. The S&P 500 rose 13.61 points, or 0.19%. The Nasdaq Composite was ahead 76.76 points, or 0.30%.
The Dow closed with a clean number, but the move was driven by just a few stocks. S&P Dow Jones Indices says the Dow uses price weighting, so pricier names can swing the index more than big moves in lower-priced stocks.
Amazon’s $11.77 move put about 70 points on the Dow, according to MarketWatch’s breakdown of the index. Alphabet’s $10.64 gain added roughly 63 points. Visa Inc. Class A NYSE:V was good for about 50. UnitedHealth Group Inc. NYSE:UNH took about 57 points off the Dow.
| Dow component | Stock move | Estimated Dow-point effect |
|---|---|---|
| Amazon.com NASDAQ:AMZN | rose $11.77 | added 70 points |
| Alphabet Inc. Class A NASDAQ:GOOGL | up $10.64 | boosted Dow by 63 |
| Visa Inc. Class A NYSE:V | up $8.35 | plus 50 points |
| UnitedHealth Group Inc. NYSE:UNH | dropped $9.50 | pulled Dow down by 57 |
| Apple Inc. NASDAQ:AAPL | fell $2.27 | shaved off 14 |
| NVIDIA Corp. NASDAQ:NVDA | down $1.33 | cut 8 points |
Alphabet’s first session in the Dow shifted the market action. S&P Dow Jones Indices said Alphabet took over Verizon’s spot before trading started Monday, noting Verizon’s low share price meant its exit didn’t move the index much. The Dow divisor was also changed before the open, keeping the index steady through the swap.
The Dow held up better than the rest of the market later in the morning. Reuters had the Dow up 0.54% at 9:41 a.m. ET, with the S&P 500 up 0.80% and the Nasdaq up 1.34%, supported by signs of easing U.S.-Iran tensions and strength in communications-services. A later MarketWatch check showed the S&P and Nasdaq gains narrowing more than the Dow’s.
| Checkpoint | Dow | S&P 500 | Nasdaq Composite |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reuters, 9:41 a.m. ET | up 0.54% | up 0.80% | up 1.34% |
| MarketWatch later snapshot | up 0.43% | up 0.19% | up 0.30% |
Outside the Dow, Comcast NASDAQ:CMCSA led gains in communications services. The company announced plans to separate into two publicly traded firms, with a tax-free spinoff for NBCUniversal and Sky. Comcast shares jumped 9.8% in morning trading, according to Reuters.
Peter Andersen, who runs Andersen Capital Management, told Reuters there have been “several false starts” in peace talks and thinks this week will be a “holding pattern.” Ben Snider, chief U.S. equity strategist at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. NYSE:GS, said the S&P 500’s 12-month return was “driven entirely by earnings.” Reuters
The Dow faces another test: can it hang onto gains if leadership stays narrow? Traders still see at least one Fed rate hike this year, according to Reuters. They’ll look at jobs numbers later this week to update those bets.
