Wall Street Hits Record Highs As Nvidia Tops $4 Trillion, Trump Ramps Up Trade Tensions: This Week In Markets

Wall Street posted fresh all-time highs this week, fueled by a relentless rally in Nvidia Corp. NVDA, which became the first company in history to surpass a $4 trillion market capitalization, igniting optimism across the tech and AI sectors.

The chipmaker extended its winning streak to a seventh straight week — and the 11th in the last 12 — nearly doubling its share price from early April lows in just over three months.

This surge pushed the combined market value of the so-called Magnificent Seven — Apple Inc. AAPL, Microsoft Corp. MSFT, Amazon.com Inc. AMZN, Meta Platforms Inc. META, Alphabet Inc. GOOGL, Tesla Inc. TSLA and Nvidia Corp. NVDA — to a staggering $18.3 trillion.

Chart Of The Week: Nvidia Has Now Rallied 90% Since April’s Tariff Turmoil

President Donald Trump reignited trade war concerns, announcing a 35% tariff on Canadian imports starting Aug. 1. He also proposed blanket tariffs of 15% to 20% on most other U.S. trading partners. Additionally, the administration unveiled 50% duties on copper and Brazilian goods, all set to kick in on the same day.

Trump also escalated his feud with the Federal Reserve. On Wednesday, he called for an aggressive three-percentage-point rate cut, arguing that each point costs the U.S. $360 billion annually in debt service.

The Fed remains cautious. Minutes from the June 17–18 FOMC meeting revealed that most officials expect to cut rates later this year. Still, Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee pushed back, saying debt costs shouldn’t drive monetary policy. He reiterated the central bank's dual mandate: price stability and full employment.

Airline stocks outperformed this week. Delta Air Lines Inc. DAL surged 12% on Thursday after beating earnings expectations and reaffirming its full-year profit forecast. Optimism spilled over to United Airlines Holdings Inc. UAL, Southwest Airlines Co. LUV and American Airlines Group Inc. AAL, as investors bet on a strong summer quarter for the travel sector.

Bitcoin BTC/USD also broke records, soaring past $118,000. The iShares Bitcoin Trust IBIT — the world's largest crypto-related exchange-traded fund — posted inflows in 12 of the past 13 weeks, reflecting surging institutional interest in the top cryptocurrency.

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