International
US Equity Indexes Rise Amid Gains in Tech, Financials; Crude Oil Pares Gains on Hopes for Iran Deal
US equity indexes rose, with financials and technology topping sector charts, and crude oil futures paring gains after President Donald Trump attempted to cool geopolitical tensions.The Nasdaq Composite jumped 1.2% to 23,183.74, the S&P 500 climbed 1% to 6,886.24, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 0.6% to 48,218.25. Defensive sectors -- consumer staples and utilities -- were the lone decliners.All three indexes clawed back intraday declines after President Trump said that "we've been called by the other side," referring to Iran. The US-Tehran talks in Pakistan's capital, Islamabad, over the weekend ended without a lasting peace pact, as uranium enrichment and the Strait of Hormuz remained the main sticking points."They'd like to make a deal very badly," Trump was cited as saying in media reports.West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures rose 1.6% to $98.14, and Brent crude futures climbed 3.2% to $98.27, after surging more than 7.5% each intraday.The CBOE Volatility Index slipped 0.6% to 19.12, after touching an intraday high of 21.58.US Treasury yields mostly fell, with the 10-year yield down 2.2 basis points to 4.30%, after rates rose across most of the yield curve earlier in the session.Trump's comments come as the US military blockade on all traffic entering and leaving Iranian ports came into effect on Monday, CNN reported.More than 15 US warships are in place to support the operation, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing a senior official."If any of these ships [that the president refers to as Iran's 'fast attack ships'] come anywhere close to our BLOCKADE, they will be immediately ELIMINATED," Trump said on his Truth Social post. Iran said no port in the Persian Gulf or the Sea of Oman would be safe if its ports are threatened, The Wall Street Journal reported Monday.A US blockade might stop Iran's flow of oil revenue without destroying or capturing Iran's Kharg Island oil loading point, and so "potentially avoid escalatory Iranian attacks on its Gulf neighbors," according to a note from the Wells Fargo Investment Institute.Meanwhile, Goldman Sachs (GS), which reported higher Q1 earnings and net revenue pre-bell, is launching a new three-tranche offering in the US investment-grade debt market, with bond maturities spanning four to eight years, Bloomberg said Monday, citing a person with direct knowledge of the matter.The Q1 earnings season has begun in earnest with the release of Goldman Sachs' quarterly results. Mega-cap banks, including JPMorgan Chase (JPM), Bank of America (BAC), Citigroup (C), and Morgan Stanley (MS), will report this week.Further in company news, Oracle (ORCL) said Monday it introduced AI-focused updates to its utilities software suite at its customer edge summit, targeting improvements in billing, grid operations, and asset management. Shares of the technology giant were up 13%, the top gainer on the S&P 500.Microsoft (MSFT), Salesforce (CRM), and ServiceNow's (NOW) recent sell-offs amid the broader software disposal are disconnected from the artificial intelligence opportunities over the coming years, Wedbush said Monday. Shares of Salesforce and Microsoft were up 4.8% and 3.6%, respectively, the Dow's top gainers.
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