Equities Drop Intraday, Oil Rebounds Amid US-Iran Re-Escalation Fears
US benchmark equity indexes were lower intraday, while oil prices rebounded sharply amid continued uncertainty around the Middle East conflict.The Nasdaq Composite was down 0.5% at 24,340.9 after midday Monday, while the S&P 500 fell 0.4% to 7,100.7. Both indexes closed at new record-highs in the previous session. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.2% to 49,374.1 intraday Monday.Among sectors, communication services saw the biggest drop, while energy paced the gainers.West Texas Intermediate crude oil was up 6% at $88.90 per barrel, while Brent rose 5.5% to $95.32.On Friday, oil prices plunged as Iran declared that the Strait of Hormuz was open, a key US demand. Tehran, however, took back control of the waterway Saturday. Both sides have accused each other of violating a two-week ceasefire that is due to expire soon.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 negotiators to Pakistan for a second round of peace talks, but Iran said it doesn't plan to participate in those negotiations.The ceasefire with Iran ends "Wednesday evening Washington time," CNN reported, citing Trump, who said it's "highly unlikely" he would extend it if the parties are unable to reach a deal before then.US Treasury yields were higher intraday, with the 10-year rate up one basis point at 4.25% and the two-year rate rising 2.1 basis point to 3.72%.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 were down 5.8% intraday Monday, while TopBuild surged 18%.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 0.5%.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).Gold was down 1% at $4,829.40 per troy ounce, while silver dropped 2.1% to $80.16 per ounce.
