S&P 500 closes with another all-time high, led by crypto stocks amid euphoric wins

The S&P 500 locked in its ninth all-time closing high of 2025 on Thursday, climbing 0.54% to 6,297.36, as crypto stocks ripped higher, and investors got slammed with better-than-expected earnings.

Nasdaq Composite ended at 20,885.65, up 0.75%, posting its tenth record of the year. The Dow Jones added 229.71 points, or 0.52%, to close at 44,484.49, with all three major indexes pushing through new intraday highs before the bell rang.

Trump’s GENIUS Act, signed into law the same day at the White House, lit a match under crypto stocks, triggering a sharp rise in names like Coinbase, Robinhood, and Bitmine Immersion.

The bill, which has been called the first full-scale crypto regulation ever passed in the United States, got an official ceremony attended by politicians and industry leaders. Trump’s action now locks crypto oversight into federal law, something future presidents can’t just brush off.

Noelle Acheson, economist and author of Crypto is Macro Now, said, “This is the biggest deal in crypto so far this year, up there with the change in the SEC – it’s the first crypto-focused law in the history of the United States, home to the largest financial market in the world.” She added that:

“Being law rather than an agency ruling means that future Administrations will not be able to easily overturn its provisions. Should any try, by then stablecoins will be so deeply embedded in the global financial landscape, it would be futile.”

Coinbase touches intraday high, Ether leads crypto run

Coinbase saw a 2% gain by close and even spiked above the high it hit during its IPO debut in 2021, making it five straight positive weeks for the company. Robinhood closed 4% higher, while Bitmine Immersion, which manages ether reserves, added 1%. The jump came after Trump’s signing, which investors saw as a regulatory green light.

Despite the crypto euphoria, bitcoin slipped 1%, weighing on firms tied directly to the coin. Strategy, previously known as MicroStrategy, dropped 6%, while Mara Holdings, a mining firm viewed as a bitcoin proxy, fell 2%.

The contrast came as Ether dominated the spotlight, soaring 18% this week alone. That rally brings ether’s two-week performance to 43.6%, its strongest showing since August 2021. Bitcoin, for the same two-week stretch, is slightly down.

Meanwhile, the CLARITY Act — a separate, more comprehensive bill covering crypto market structures — passed the House of Representatives and is now heading to the Senate, which will then send it to Trump, if approved.

Jobless claims fall, retail sales beat expectations

Outside crypto, the day’s economic reports gave traders more reason to stay risk-on. The Labor Department reported that initial jobless claims for the week ending July 12 dropped by 7,000, landing at 221,000. That decline hints that layoffs haven’t picked up despite all the noise about rate hikes and inflation. It also helped prop up the narrative that the labor market isn’t breaking.

Another surprise came from the U.S. Census Bureau, which reported that retail sales in June rose 0.6% from May. That’s triple the 0.2% estimate that Dow Jones analysts had projected. Consumers are still spending, and that’s keeping companies happy, and investors, even happier.

That spending is starting to show up in corporate earnings. Roughly 50 S&P 500 companies have reported results so far, and 88% of them beat expectations, as tracked by FactSet. Big names like PepsiCo, which gained 7% on Thursday, and United Airlines, which added 3%, were standout winners.

By the end of the week, the S&P 500 is projected to be up 0.6%, with the Dow eyeing a 0.3% gain. But the real winner is the Nasdaq, which is leading all three major indexes with a 1.5% rise so far in the week. That makes tech — and by extension, crypto stocks — the market’s top performers again.

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