Stock Market Today: May 25, 2026 — US Markets Closed for Memorial Day
US stock markets were closed Monday, May 25, 2026 in observance of Memorial Day, with the Dow heading into the long weekend at a fresh record of 50,579.70 and trading set to resume Tuesday with a packed slate including the April PCE inflation print and earnings from Salesforce, Dell, and Costco.
What Moved the Stock Market May 25, 2026
US equity and bond markets were closed Monday, May 25, 2026 for Memorial Day. The New York Stock Exchange, Nasdaq, and Cboe were dark; SIFMA's recommended bond-market close also held. CME equity-index futures took an early Friday halt and reopened Sunday evening for an abbreviated session that ran to mid-day Monday before pausing again ahead of Tuesday's regular 9:30 a.m. ET open.
With no cash tape to print, the dominant story is the setup heading in. Friday's close left the Dow Jones Industrial Average at a fresh record 50,579.70 after a 294-point, 0.58% gain, the S&P 500 at 7,473.47 after its eighth straight weekly advance, the Nasdaq Composite at 26,343.97, and the Russell 2000 at 2,869.23 — the small-cap benchmark led Friday with a 0.91% pop on easing yields. S&P 500 futures (ES=F) drifted roughly 0.1% higher during the holiday-shortened Globex session as traders priced in a quiet weekend on the geopolitical front and looked ahead to the week's PCE inflation print.
May 25, 2026 Volatility, Yields, and Commodities
The VIX settled Friday at 16.76 — a sleepy reading reflecting muted weekend hedging demand — and there is no Cboe print for Monday. The US 10-year Treasury yield finished Friday at 4.56%, down roughly four basis points on the week as a softer University of Michigan sentiment reading reinforced bets that the Fed will hold through the summer. The 2-year sat at 3.88% into the close.
In commodities, the holiday did not stop electronic trading. WTI crude (CL=F) hovered near $97.00 a barrel in early Monday electronic dealings, little changed from Friday's settle after a week of choppy headlines around US-Iran nuclear talks and Strait of Hormuz tanker traffic. Gold (GC=F) traded around $4,521 an ounce, holding within striking distance of its all-time high. The US Dollar Index (DXY) closed Friday at 99.33 and barely budged in thin overnight flows. Bitcoin (BTC-USD) — which never closes — drifted in a $108K–$110K range over the holiday weekend.
May 25, 2026 Sector Performance (Friday Close, No Monday Trade)
With cash equities closed, the sector scorecard below reflects Friday May 22 sector ETF returns and year-to-date through that close. The order is Friday's percentage change descending — the freshest signal available for Tuesday's reopen positioning.
| Sector (SPDR) | Fri % | YTD % |
|---|---|---|
| Financials (XLF) | +1.12% | +14.2% |
| Industrials (XLI) | +0.94% | +13.8% |
| Real Estate (XLRE) | +0.81% | +6.3% |
| Consumer Discretionary (XLY) | +0.73% | +7.8% |
| Materials (XLB) | +0.58% | +6.8% |
| Health Care (XLV) | +0.46% | +5.2% |
| Utilities (XLU) | +0.38% | +9.4% |
| Consumer Staples (XLP) | +0.27% | +3.1% |
| Communication Services (XLC) | +0.21% | +10.5% |
| Technology (XLK) | +0.14% | +25.5% |
| Energy (XLE) | -0.82% | -2.7% |
Cyclicals and rate-sensitives led on Friday — a clean broadening signal heading into the long weekend. Energy was the lone laggard as crude faded on Iran-deal headlines. Tech finished green but well off the pace as semis cooled after a hot week; XLK still leads the eleven-sector pack year-to-date by a wide margin, with Nvidia's post-earnings reaction the single biggest variable for Tuesday's open.
May 25, 2026 Biggest Stock Movers (Friday Session Recap)
With no Monday tape, these are the standout movers from Friday's final pre-holiday session — the names traders will be re-pricing first when the bell rings Tuesday.
WDAY — Workday +13.1%. The enterprise HR-and-finance software vendor jumped after posting Q1 FY27 EPS of $2.66 versus the $2.25 consensus and revenue of $2.54 billion against $2.52 billion expected. Subscription revenue grew 14.3% to $2.35 billion and 12-month backlog rose 15.5% to $8.81 billion, quieting the bear case that AI agents are compressing seat-based SaaS pricing.
ROST — Ross Stores +5.2%. The off-price retailer crushed estimates with Q1 EPS of $2.02 against $1.68 consensus and revenue of $6.01 billion, up 21% year-over-year on a 17% comp. Management lifted full-year EPS guidance to a $7.50–$7.74 range, pulling sympathy bids into TJX and BURL.
INTU — Intuit -19%. Shares cratered despite Q3 revenue of $8.56 billion and adjusted EPS of $12.80 both topping estimates — the print was overshadowed by a plan to cut roughly 17% of full-time staff as part of an AI-led reorg, which the Street read as a demand warning rather than a margin tailwind.
NVDA — Nvidia flat-to-down. The AI bellwether's post-print reaction stayed muted after Wednesday's Q1 report of $81.6 billion in revenue (+85% YoY) and a Q2 guide of $89.2B–$92.8B. The board added an $80 billion buyback and lifted the quarterly dividend to $0.25 from $0.01, but the stock chopped Thursday and Friday as bulls debated whether the gross-margin step-down was a one-quarter blip or a sign that hyperscaler ASIC competition is starting to bite.
DELL — Dell Technologies +6.1%. Dell ripped into Thursday's earnings on bullish sell-side previews flagging an expanding AI-server backlog and a stabilizing commercial PC refresh. HPQ traded sympathetically higher; both names report Thursday after the close.
Macro and Policy
Memorial Day is a federal holiday — no Treasury auctions, no scheduled economic releases, and no Fed speakers crossed the tape Monday. The Federal Reserve, Treasury Department, and most government offices were closed. Bond markets followed SIFMA's recommended early close on Friday and reopen 8:00 a.m. ET Tuesday.
The week's macro center of gravity sits Thursday morning, with the second estimate of Q1 GDP and April Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) — the Fed's preferred inflation gauge — landing together at 8:30 a.m. ET. Consensus is looking for core PCE around 2.7% year-over-year. Anything hotter and the soft-landing narrative that has powered the S&P's eight-week win streak gets tested.
Earnings Highlights
No notable US-listed companies reported Monday with markets closed. The week's heavy hitters start Tuesday and ramp through Thursday: CRM Salesforce and CRWD CrowdStrike Wednesday after the close, DELL Dell and COST Costco Thursday after the close, with MRVL Marvell, HPQ HP, ADSK Autodesk, MDB MongoDB, BBY Best Buy, DLTR Dollar Tree, DKS Dick's Sporting Goods, AZO AutoZone, and ZS Zscaler interleaved through the week. Marvell's read on AI custom-silicon and CrowdStrike's net-new ARR will draw the most cross-asset attention.
What to Watch Tuesday, May 26 and Beyond
- Tuesday earnings and data: AZO AutoZone before the open and ZS Zscaler after the close, alongside the Conference Board Consumer Confidence print at 10:00 a.m. ET, S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller home prices, new home sales, and the Richmond and Dallas Fed manufacturing surveys.
- Wednesday — Salesforce and CrowdStrike night: CRM and CRWD headline the AMC slate alongside DKS and MRVL. The combined results will set the tape for enterprise SaaS and AI-silicon names into month-end.
- Thursday — GDP, PCE, and a heavy earnings block: Q1 GDP 2nd estimate and the April PCE deflator land at 8:30 a.m. ET, followed by an after-close wave from DELL, COST, MDB, BBY, ADSK, DLTR, and GAP.
- Treasury supply: $69 billion 2-year, $70 billion 5-year, and $44 billion 7-year auctions are packed into Tuesday and Wednesday — a stiff test of front-end demand with the 2-year sitting near 3.88%.
- Fed speakers: Several FOMC members are on the calendar midweek. Markets will be listening for any pushback on the recent rally in duration and the cooling in inflation expectations.
US equity and bond markets reopen for regular trading at 9:30 a.m. ET Tuesday, May 26, 2026.