Wall Street's main indexes rose on Monday as oil prices tumbled more than 6% on hopes of a possible US-Iran peace deal, offering some relief to investors after a turbulent October. Market participants also assessed the upcoming US midterm elections and prepared for another busy week of corporate earnings, according to Reuters.
At 10:02 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 537.86 points, or 1.04%, to 52,308.17. The S&P 500 gained 44.29 points, or 0.58%, to 7,623.22, while the Nasdaq Composite advanced 183.02 points, or 0.72%, to 25,620.02.
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Brent crude fell to a near two week low after reports of Iran holding talks with Qatari officials to end its eight month long conflict with the US raised hopes of easing Middle East supply disruptions. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said the country's supreme leader had granted "certain authorities" to the government regarding peace negotiations, state media reported.
Brent crude futures were trading at $104.62 a barrel, down $8.81, or 7.77%, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures fell $7.54, or 7.24%, to $96.58 a barrel.
Oil slide lifts sentiment, but AI concerns persist
Seven of the 11 major S&P 500 sectors traded higher, led by consumer discretionary stocks. Energy shares, however, declined more than 2.1%.
Most megacap and growth stocks advanced, with Nvidia rising 1.5% and Amazon gaining 4.1%. The gains offered some respite to technology stocks following October's selloff, which brought the Nasdaq 100 close to correction territory amid concerns over Big Tech's soaring AI expenditure and uncertain returns.
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However, funding concerns continued to weigh on individual stocks. Oracle fell 5.8% after regulatory filings showed plans to raise $20 billion through debt and a share sale, renewing concerns about debt funded AI infrastructure investments.
Marvell Technology dropped 6.1% after announcing a $115 billion all stock acquisition of optical components maker Lumentum, including debt. Lumentum shares fell 10.5%.
Apple earnings, US midterm elections in focus
Apple shares declined 1.3% ahead of its quarterly earnings announcement after the market close. AMD is also scheduled to report results later this week, keeping the technology sector in focus.
"It is likely to remain volatile through the earnings season, and individual companies may get punished by the market if they're not fulfilling the market's asks on all of those fronts," said Kiran Ganesh, multi-asset strategist at UBS Global Wealth Management, Reuters reported.
Investors are also watching Tuesday's US midterm elections. Democrats are widely expected to win the House of Representatives, while the Senate race remains more uncertain.
Meanwhile, US manufacturing activity picked up in October amid solid domestic demand, according to data cited by Reuters.
(Disclaimer: This article is based on inputs from agencies. These do not represent the views of The Economic Times)
