Nasdaq, S&P 500 Fall From Record Highs Amid Iran War Uncertainty; Oil Jumps
The Nasdaq Composite and the S&P 500 fell from record highs, while oil prices climbed as traders tracked an apparent re-escalation in the Middle East conflict.The Nasdaq dropped 0.3% to 24,404.4 after a 13-day winning streak that propelled the index to fresh peaks. The S&P 500 declined 0.2% to 7,109.1. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was little changed at 49,442.6.Six of the 11 sectors were in the green, led by materials, while communication services saw the steepest drop.West Texas Intermediate crude oil was last up 5.6% at $88.58 per barrel, while Brent advanced 5.1% to $94.98.Iran took back control of the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday after opening the waterway to commercial vessels on Friday. The US and Iran have accused each other of violating a two-week ceasefire announced April 7.The US Navy on Sunday seized an Iranian-flagged vessel that tried to move past a naval blockade, President Donald Trump said in a Truth Social post."Oil prices are being whipsawed by developments in the Middle East once again, with what appears to be de-escalation quickly turning to re-escalation," ING Bank said in a report.The US is sending its negotiating team to Pakistan for a second round of peace talks, and while Iran has publicly said it doesn't plan to participate, Bloomberg News reported that Iran will be sending its delegation to Islamabad.The ceasefire with Iran ends "Wednesday evening Washington time," Trump told Bloomberg News. He said it's "highly unlikely" he would extend the two-week truce.The US-Iran ceasefire may be extended by up to two weeks, though it will take much longer to hammer out a complete peace agreement, Macquarie Group said in a note on Monday.US Treasury yields were mixed, with the 10-year rate little changed at 4.26% and the two-year rate rising 1.7 basis point to 3.73%.Some 46 S&P 500 companies have so far reported their latest quarterly financial results in the current cycle, with earnings and sales up around 32% and 13% year over year, respectively, Oppenheimer Asset Management said in a report. Ahead of the reporting season, FactSet put expected earnings growth at 12.6% from a year earlier, according to the brokerage."It's too early to draw conclusions about first-quarter results, but the quarter appears to be off to a good start," Oppenheimer Asset Management Chief Investment Strategist John Stoltzfus said.About 94 S&P 500 companies are scheduled to release their quarterly financials this week, according the brokerage. Those include Tesla (TSLA), Intel (INTC), IBM (IBM), Texas Instruments (TXN), Philip Morris International (PM), Procter & Gamble (PG), GE Aerospace (GE), UnitedHealth Group (UNH), and RTX (RTX).In company news, QXO (QXO) has agreed to acquire insulation products company TopBuild (BLD) in a cash-and-stock deal worth roughly $17 billion, the companies said Sunday. QXO shares fell 3.1%, while TopBuild surged 19%.Sila Realty Trust (SILA) agreed to be acquired and taken private by certain affiliates of Blue Owl Capital's (OWL) real estate unit in an all-cash deal worth roughly $2.4 billion. Sila Realty shares jumped 19%, while Blue Owl rose 0.4%.Gold was last down 1% at $4,832.10 per troy ounce, while silver dropped 2.5% to $79.81 per ounce.