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Stock Market News for Oct 14, 2025

By Zacks Equity Research | October 14, 2025, 5:09 AM

U.S. stock markets rebounded on Monday with a great vigor after a bleeding last Friday. Yesterday’s rally followed President Donald Trump’s conciliatory comment on the recent escalation of trade conflicts between the United States and China. All three major stock indexes ended in positive territory. The rally was broad-based as small- cap stocks also witnessed a sharp rise.

How Did the Benchmarks Perform?

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) advanced 1.3% or 587.98 points to close at 46,067.58. Notably, 22 components of the 30-stock index ended in positive territory, while eight finished in negative territory. 

The major gainer of the index was NIKE Inc. NKE. The stock price of the giant online retailer was up 3.3%. Nike currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite finished at 22,694.61, climbing 2.2% or 490.18 points driven by the strong performance of technology bigwigs. The S&P 500 appreciated 1.6% or 102.21 points to finish at 6,654.72. Out of the 11 broad sectors of the broad-market index, nine ended in positive territory, while two were in negative territory. 

The Technology Select Sector SPDR (XLK), the Energy Select Sector SPDR (XLE), the Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR (XLY), the Industrials Select Sector SPDR (XLI) and the Materials Select Sector SPDR (XLB) fell 2.4%, 1.4%, 2.2%, 1% and 1.6%, respectively. 

The fear gauge, the CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) plunged 12.1% to 19.03. A total of 18.2 billion shares were traded on Monday, lower than the last 20-session average of 20.2 billion. The S&P 500 recorded seven new 52-week highs and 14 new 52-week lows. The Nasdaq Composite registered 91 new 52-week highs and 120 new 52-week lows.

Moreover, the small-cap benchmark — the Russell 2000 — climbed 2.8% to reach at 2,461.42.

De-Escalation of U.S.-China Trade Conflicts

On Oct. 12, President Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social “Don’t worry about China, it will all be fine! Highly respected President Xi just had a bad moment. He doesn’t want Depression for his country, and neither do I. The U.S.A. wants to help China, not hurt it.”

Vice President JD Vance told Fox News that the Trump administration is ready to negotiate with China if Beijing is “willing to be reasonable.” However, he also hinted that China’s unwillingness may force the U.S. government to make more stringent moves. 

In an interview with the Fox Business Network, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that the upcoming meeting between President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping in South Korea has not been cancelled as both sides are eager to deescalate trade tensions.

U.S.- China Trade Tensions Escalated Last Week

On Oct. 9, China’s Ministry of Commerce issued a notification requiring all foreign companies to obtain a license to export products from China that contain more than 0.1% of rare earth minerals, whether sourced from China or manufactured using Chinese extraction, refining, magnet-making or recycling technology. 

The new rule will be effective Dec. 1. China supplies around 70% of global rare earth minerals, critical components for today’s high-tech world. The United States is a major importer of rare earth minerals considered, extremely valuable and necessary inputs for the semiconductor, defense and automobile industries.

On Oct. 10, the U.S. government retaliated by imposing another 100% tariffs on Chinese exports to the nation over and above what has already been imposed on these products. At present, Chinese goods are subject to an average 40% tariff in the United States. The new tariff of another 100% will be effective from Nov.1. 

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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