US Equity Indexes Mixed, Crude Oil Rises With Treasury Yields as Iran Ceasefire on 'Massive Life Support'
US equity indexes traded mixed midday Monday, while crude oil futures rose with Treasury yields, after President Donald Trump rejected Iran's response to its proposal to restart the peace process.The Nasdaq rose 0.2% to 26,302.1 after touching a record 26,339.78 intraday. The S&P 500 climbed 0.3% to 7,417.2 after hitting an all-time high of 7,423.59 earlier in the session. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was steady to slightly lower at 49,604.7.Energy was the standout gainer, followed by materials and technology. Communication services and consumer staples led the decliners.Tech heavyweights Qualcomm (QCOM), Micro Technology (MU), and Nvidia (NVDA) were among the top 10 gainers intraday in a category of stocks with a market capitalization of more than $200 billion, according to data compiled by Finviz.The US and Iran remained far apart on a framework to end their war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, with Trump calling the Islamic Republic's reply to his proposed peace plan unworkable, Bloomberg reported. Tehran demanded a lifting of the US naval blockade and sanctions relief, while maintaining a degree of control over traffic through Hormuz, a person familiar with the matter told Bloomberg.Trump said the ceasefire between the US and Iran is on "massive life support," after he rejected Iran's response to a proposal for ending the war as unserious, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal.West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures rose 3.4% to $98.69, and Brent crude futures increased 3.3% to $104.66.US Treasury yields rose, with the 10-year up 3.8 basis points to 4.4% and the two-year rate higher by 3.6 basis points to 3.93%."Oil price dynamics remain crucial for bond markets and should set a bearish tone at the start of the week," Commerzbank's Hauke Siemssen and Erik Liem were cited as saying in a report from The Wall Street Journal on Monday.In economic news, the pace of US existing home sales rose 0.2% to a 4.02 million seasonally adjusted annual rate in April from 4.01 million in March, below expectations for a 4.05 million rate in a survey compiled by Bloomberg, data from the National Association of Realtors released Monday showed. Total sales were unchanged from a year earlier.In company news, Lumentum (LITE) said Monday that its stock will be included in the Nasdaq-100 Index, effective May 18. Shares surged 17%, the top gainer on the S&P 500.HSBC downgraded Trade Desk (TTD) to reduce from hold while adjusting its price target to $20 from $31. Shares slumped 7.5%, the worst performer on the S&P 500.In precious metals, gold futures slipped less than 0.1% to $4,730.1, and silver futures jumped 6.7% to $86.28.
