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Update: US Equity Indexes Jump as Communication Services Rally While Crude Oil Slides With Treasury Yields

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(Updates with index/price moves and company/geopolitical news from the first paragraph.)

US equity indexes rose amid strong gains in communications services and a slide in government bond yields, coupled with a drop in crude oil futures, supporting President Donald Trump's version of the state of Iran peace negotiations.

The Nasdaq Composite jumped 2.1% to 25,913.90, with the S&P 500 up 1.5% to 7,600.50 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average higher by 1.3% to 53,178.41 on Monday.

Communication services surged 4.3%, topping sectors, followed by consumer discretionary and technology. Energy, consumer staples, and health care were the sole decliners.

Alphabet's (GOOG, GOOGL) Google signed a 15-year power purchase agreement for the total energy output from RWE's 155-megawatt Crooked Creek solar project in McCurtain County, Oklahoma, RWE said Monday. Shares of Alphabet jumped 4.9%, the top gainer on the Dow.

Amazon.com's (AMZN) web services unit and Superblocks unveiled a multi-year collaboration to bring the latter's generative AI platform to customers' AWS environments, including Amazon Bedrock. Shares of Amazon advanced 4.6%, one of the biggest outperformers on the Dow, the S&P 500, and the Nasdaq.

Alibaba (BABA) launched Qwen3.8-Max, its latest large language model, and plans to release the model's open weights next week alongside Qwen3.8-27B.

President Donald Trump said his latest offer of talks is a "last chance" for Iran after he called off what he said was a major attack on the Islamic Republic, Bloomberg reported. "I want to give them every last chance before decapitation," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office, according to Bloomberg. "You'll find out today or tomorrow. I mean, they're going to go quickly, one way or the other. It's not very complex."

Iran's Foreign Ministry Spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said no negotiations with the US were underway and no meetings were scheduled, Reuters reported.

Oman and Iran have been negotiating over a new maritime route through the Strait of Hormuz, which borders both their territorial waters, Al Jazeera, a Middle Eastern broadcaster, reported. Sunday night, Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told the Iranian cabinet in a report that negotiations between Tehran and Muscat were "on the way to being finalized".

The front-month US West Texas Intermediate crude oil slumped 5.3% to $80.15 a barrel, and global benchmark North Sea Brent dropped 4.8% to $83.70 a barrel.

Most US Treasury yields declined, with the 10-year trading down 6.7 basis points to 4.68%, retreating from the 52-week high touched late last week. The two-year yield dropped 5.2 basis points to 4.24%.

In economic news, the Institute for Supply Management's US manufacturing index rose to 55.6 in July from 53.3 in June, compared with expectations for 53.9 in a Bloomberg-compiled survey. This is the highest reading since May 2022, ISM said.

"The increase in New Orders and Production, along with an increase in Order Backlogs and Employment suggests that manufacturing businesses are becoming more comfortable with the idea of expanding capacity," Thomas Simons, Jefferies Chief Economist, said in a note. "Comments from some respondents suggest that the AI infrastructure build out has accelerated to a new phase."

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Tadawul Shares Soar on Sunday Amid Corporate Earnings Bonanza, US-Iran Deal Optimism

Saudi equities closed Sunday higher as a busy corporate earnings day, and the optimism regarding a potential return of peace talks between the US and Iran pushed the Tadawul All Share Index 1.10% in the green.Markets cheered as US President Donald Trump agreed to hold off its strikes against Iran to help complete a "rapid" deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and end the Middle Eastern nation's nuclear program.Back at home, corporate earnings season is in full swing as Saudi Aramco Base Oil Co. (SASE:2223), d/b/a Luberef, Sumou Real Estate (SASE:4323), and Al-Razi Medical (SASE:9572) reported higher net profit and revenue for the first half of 2026."Over the past five decades, Luberef has built a strong track record of operational reliability, sustained profitability and resilience. This solid foundation has enabled the Company to achieve a historic milestone in the first half of 2026, delivering the highest interim net income of 992 million [Saudi riyals], supported by a record base oil crack margin of 2,732 [riyals] per metric ton," Luberef's Chief Executive Officer Samer Abdulaziz Al-Hokail said in a statement.Meanwhile, Jabal Omar Development (SASE:4250) logged a 69.562% decline in attributable profit in the six months ended June 30. Revenue, on the other hand, rose 16.397%.Luberef and Al-Razi Medical closed 1.34% and 0.50% lower, while Jabal Omar Development and Sumou Real Estate were 2.50% and 3.54% higher at closing, respectively.In other news, SAL Saudi Logistics Services Co. (SASE:4263) shares closed flat as it finalized its purchase of Aviapartner Liège. The acquisition is set to boost the logistics company's European footprint.

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US Equity Indexes Rise This Week as AI Monetization Evidence in Big-Tech Quarterly Results Energizes Bulls

US equity indexes rose this week as investors selectively rewarded big tech for delivering evidence that AI spend is being monetized, helping outweigh a surge in government bond yields.* The S&P 500 closed at 7,489.72 on Friday versus 7,411.98 a week ago. The Nasdaq Composite stood at about 25,373.85, compared with 24,975.82 a week earlier. The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended at 52,485.03, versus 51,947.25 at the end of last week.* Amazon's (AMZN) cloud-computing unit reported overnight the fastest sales growth in 18 quarters. Shares soared even as the retailer expanded its full-year 2026 capital expenditure guidance by about $20 billion to $220 billion.* The Microsoft (MSFT) intelligent cloud segment's revenue increased 32% to $39.31 billion, buoyed by 43% growth in Azure and other cloud services, according to the company. Analysts expected a 40% year-over-year advance in Azure sales.* President Donald Trump said the US has an "understanding" with Israel to begin implementing an agreement in Gaza that would require Israeli forces to withdraw and Hamas to give up its weapons, a critical step in implementing a multi-phase peace plan to end the war, CNN reported.* The Fed held its policy rate steady in a divided decision, as three officials called for policy tightening. The central bank reiterated its pledge to "deliver price stability" as inflation has remained above its 2% target amid supply shocks. The CME FedWatch tool showed a 66% probability of the Federal Reserve raising interest rates by 25 basis points in September, up from 51% a month ago, with the likelihood of rate increases also climbing in October and December.* In economic news, the personal consumption expenditures, or PCE, price index fell in June, as expected, cutting the year-over-year rate. Core PCE climbed less than forecast, helping to drive a decline in the annual rate.* The US 10-year yield traded at 4.74% late Friday, after earlier touching its highest level in 52 weeks.

Dow JonesNasdaq CompositeS&P 500$AMZN$MSFT
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Update: US Equity Indexes Rise as Amazon's Results Boost Consumer Discretionary, Crude Oil Trades Off Session Highs

(Updates with index/price moves and macroeconomic data from the first paragraph.)US equity indexes rose following a lift by standout gainers consumer discretionary and communication services, and as President Donald Trump signaled an agreement between Israel and militant group Hamas.The Nasdaq Composite rose 1% to 25,373.85, with the S&P 500 up 0.7% to 7,489.72 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average higher by 0.5% to 52,485.03 on Friday.Consumer discretionary catapulted 6.1%, and communication services soared 4.6%, outweighing a retreat led by materials.Amazon's (AMZN) web services cloud-computing unit reported overnight the fastest sales growth in 18 quarters, helping the e-commerce giant handily exceed market expectations for Q2 earnings and revenue. Shares soared 15%, the top gainer on the S&P 500, the Nasdaq, and the Dow, even as the retailer expanded its full-year 2026 capital expenditure guidance by about $20 billion to $220 billion.Apple (APPL), meanwhile, sank 7.4%, among the worst performers on the S&P 500, the Nasdaq, and the Dow. The company missed market estimates for iPad and services revenue overnight in fiscal Q3, after recently raising prices for MacBooks and iPads amid surging memory and storage chip costs.In geopolitical news, President Donald Trump said the US has an "understanding" with Israel to start implementing an agreement in Gaza that would require Israeli forces to withdraw and Hamas to give up its weapons, a critical step in implementing a multi-phase peace plan to end the war, according to CNN.A senior Hamas official told CNN that the militant group had agreed to the deal with the US-backed Board of Peace, contingent on Israel upholding its obligations. Hamas has never before agreed to a specific plan to hand over its weapons, according to CNN.The front-month US West Texas Intermediate crude oil climbed 1.4% to $84.75 a barrel, and global benchmark North Sea Brent advanced 1.2% to $90.12 a barrel. Both crude types traded off their respective session highs.In economic news, a survey conducted by the University of Michigan showed respondents expect a 4.2% inflation rate over the next year, down from 4.6% in June, and 3.3% annual inflation over the next five years, in line with a month ago. The Federal Reserve has remained above its 2% inflation target for more than five years."Let me reiterate. There is no soft inflation target. There is no soft implicit target. Not on this committee's watch. There's only a target, and it's 2%," Fed Chair Kevin Warsh said in a press briefing after the central bank overcame dissent from three policy makers to leave interest rates unchanged on Wednesday.US Treasury yields surged, with the 10-year trading up 4.7 basis points to 4.71% after touching its 52-week high intraday. The two-year yield climbed 4.4 basis points to 4.27%.In precious metal markets, gold futures dropped 1.3% to $4,107.3, and silver futures slumped 1.5% to $58.13.Further in economic news, the University of Michigan consumer sentiment index was revised upwards to 55.2 for July from 54.4 in the preliminary estimate, compared with expectations for a downward revision to 54.0 in a survey compiled by Bloomberg. That was above the final reading of 49.5 in June.The quarterly US employment cost index rose by 0.9% in Q2, in line with the previous quarter, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on Friday. This was above the consensus estimate of a 0.8% gain in a Bloomberg-compiled survey.

Dow JonesNasdaq CompositeS&P 500$AAPL$AMZN