US benchmark equity indexes were mostly higher intraday as Nvidia (NVDA) helped lift the technology sector, while oil prices jumped as markets tracked the latest developments in the Middle East.
The Nasdaq Composite was up 0.7% at 27,169.1 after midday Monday, while the S&P 500 rose 0.4% to 7,612.6. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was little changed at 51,017.1. All three benchmarks notched fresh closing highs in the previous session.
Barring tech and energy, all sectors were in the red intraday Monday, led by utilities.
In company news, Nvidia shares jumped 5.6%, among the top gainers on the Dow. On Sunday, the tech bellwether announced a new artificial intelligence chip to power Microsoft (MSFT) Windows personal computers, called RTX Spark, entering the consumer PC processor market.
Microsoft shares were up 1.8% intraday Monday.
Salesforce (CRM) was the best performer on the S&P 500, up 9.5%, after it said it will invest $2 billion in France through 2030. Separately, Salesforce said it agreed to buy Contentful, a "composable" content platform.
Dell (DELL) shares were up 8.9% intraday, extending its rally. Morgan Stanley upgraded its rating on the computer maker's stock to equal-weight from underweight and raised its price target to $448 from $170. Dell is outperforming peers in navigating semiconductor supply shortages, the brokerage said.
S&P 500 companies' quarterly earnings growth held steady at nearly 28%, compared with financials reported up until a week ago, putting the index on track to close out the most recent cycle well above estimates, Oppenheimer Asset Management said in a note.
Hewlett Packard (HPE), Palo Alto Networks (PANW), Broadcom (AVGO) and CrowdStrike (CRWD) are scheduled to release quarterly results this week.
West Texas Intermediate crude oil was up 4.8% at $91.54 a barrel, while Brent rose 3.9% to $94.70.
Talks with Iran are continuing at "a rapid pace," US President Donald Trump said in a social media post Monday.
Iran will suspend talks through intermediaries with the US and will move to completely shut the Strait of Hormuz in retaliation to alleged ceasefire violations, CNBC reported, citing Iran's state-affiliated news outlet Tasnim.
In a separate social media post, Trump said he had a call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, adding that no troops will be going to Beirut, while any troops that are on their way have already been turned back.
"Likewise, through highly placed representatives, I had a very good call with Hezbollah, and they agreed that all shooting will stop -- that Israel will not attack them, and they will not attack Israel," Trump said.
US Treasury yields were higher intraday, with the 10-year rate up 1.6 basis points at 4.47%, and the two-year rate rising 3.5 basis points to 4.05%.
In economic news, the US manufacturing sector expanded to its highest level in four years last month amid strength in demand and production, though price pressures remained elevated, two separate surveys by the Institute for Supply Management and S&P Global (SPGI) showed.
"Even with improving activity, the persistence of elevated cost pressures is likely to constrain the pace of expansion and keep policymakers cautious, limiting the scope for near-term monetary-policy easing," TD Economics said in a note.
Gold was down 1.5% at $4,523.30 per troy ounce, while silver fell 0.4% to $75.59 per ounce.
