Wall Street’s main indexes inched higher on Monday after marking their biggest weekly jump in four months in the previous session, while investors assessed prospects of an end to the Middle East conflict.
The U.S. and Iran were weighing the framework of a plan to end the hostilities, though Iran rejected any immediate move to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. U.S. President Donald Trump set a Tuesday deadline to reopen the waterway.
Still, investors drew some comfort from a report that indicated the U.S., Iran and a group of regional mediators are discussing the terms for a potential 45-day ceasefire.
“The stock market is a very good barometer of future activities … investors are expecting a recovery from the selloff that we experienced,” said Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist at CFRA Research.
“Wall Street is willing to take a wait-and-see attitude, but is betting that the outcome is positive.”
The S&P 500 information technology index was the biggest boost, up 0.4%, with chip-linked stocks leading the charge. Memory chipmaker Seagate gained 8.3% after Morgan Stanley added it to its top-pick list. The Philadelphia SE Semiconductor index was up 0.8%.
Industrials and mining stocks fell 0.3% and 0.7%, respectively.
Gains in JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs lifted the Dow.
At 10:02 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 68.86 points, or 0.15%, to 46,573.53, the S&P 500 gained 22.22 points, or 0.31%, to 6,604.91 and the Nasdaq Composite gained 117.62 points, or 0.52%, to 21,992.14.
Trading volumes on Monday were expected to be thin as many markets in Europe and Asia are closed for public holidays.
The CBOE Volatility Index, also known as Wall Street’s fear gauge, ticked up 0.47 points to 24.34.
Pete Mulmat, head of brokerage strategy and operations at IG North America, said stocks and the VIX index were up simultaneously as markets were buying into the Trump “deadline extension” trade and not on genuine optimism.
Wall Street’s main indexes posted their first weekly gains in six weeks as the prospects of an end to the conflict soothed investor nerves.
Markets will scrutinize domestic inflation readings this week to gauge if the conflict-driven spikes in energy prices have trickled into the U.S. economy. Friday’s data showed U.S. job growth rebounded more than expected in March, supporting the view the Federal Reserve could keep rates on hold.
Money market participants are not pricing in any easing from the central bank this year, compared to two cuts they had expected before the war broke out, per CME Group’s FedWatch Tool.
On Monday, the Institute for Supply Management’s non-manufacturing purchasing managers’ index for March came in at 54, slightly below estimates of 54.9, according to economists polled by Reuters.
Among others, Soleno Therapeutics shares surged about 32% after Neurocrine Biosciences agreed to acquire the rare-disease drugmaker for $2.9 billion in cash.
U.S.-listed shares of cryptocurrency-linked firms rose, with Coinbase and Strategy up 2% and 4.3%, respectively, as bitcoin prices edged higher.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.48-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and by a 1.81-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P 500 posted five new 52-week highs and one new low, while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 37 new highs and 31 new lows.
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