Both the S&P 500 ETF (SPY) and the Nasdaq 100 ETF (QQQ) closed in positive territory on Monday following encouraging peace developments in the Middle East.
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The White House released Trump’s 20-point plan to end the war in Gaza following his meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. If both Israel and Hamas agree to the terms, the war would end immediately and result in the creation of a “board of peace” to oversee a governing committee of Palestinians and international experts, including former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair. Netanyahu has already agreed to support the plan.
“This is potentially one of the greatest days ever in civilization,” Trump said at a press conference after meeting with Netanyahu.
Other points of the proposal include returning hostages, preferred tariff rates for Gaza, a U.S. aid plan, and Israel agreeing not to occupy or annex the territory. In addition, Hamas must agree to destroy its weapons and not participate in Gaza’s governance.
Meanwhile, Trump is set to hold ameeting with top congressional leaders at the Oval Office to address differences between Democrats and Republicans ahead of a government shutdown deadline at midnight on Tuesday. The disagreements include extending healthcare subsidies and limiting Trump’s power to unilaterally slash previously approved government spending.
“Our position has been very clear: cancel the cuts, lower the costs, save healthcare,” said House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries on ABC’s This Week.
A government shutdown could also delay the release of important inflation and labor data ahead of the October 28-29 Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting, with the Bureau of Labor Statistics confirming that it would not release data if the government closes its doors.
Finally, Trump has stepped up the offensive on his tariff strategy, this time targeting the filmmaking industry. In a Truth Social post, he said that he would impose a 100% tariff rate on foreign films. This follows a similar threat he made in May, with experts questioning if such a move exceeds the scope of his legal authority given that films are classified as a service instead of a good.
The S&P 500 (SPX) closed with a 0.26% gain, while the Nasdaq 100 (NDX) returned 0.44%.
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