US stocks drift higher as deadline on Iran power plants nears
U.S. stocks edged higher on Monday in cautious trading as investors looked toward a deadline set by President Donald Trump for potential strikes against Iranian power plants and considered how any escalation could affect energy markets. The S&P 500 rose 0.4% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 165.21 points, or 0.4%, while the Nasdaq composite climbed 0.5% and remained supported by gains in some major technology shares.
In the energy complex, oil prices climbed after seesawing through the session. Market participants weighed uncertainty about the war with Iran and how long it could constrain the global flow of oil and natural gas, including the risk to shipments that typically move through the Strait of Hormuz.
The outlook for negotiations remained in focus after Iran rejected the latest ceasefire proposal. Mojtaba Ferdousi Pour, head of the Iranian diplomatic mission in Cairo, told The Associated Press, “We won’t merely accept a ceasefire,” and said, “We only accept an end of the war with guarantees that we won’t be attacked again.”
Fighting continued alongside the diplomatic dispute, including an Israeli attack on an Iranian petrochemical plant, even as Trump’s deadline approached. Trump has threatened to attack Iranian power plants if Iran does not open the Strait of Hormuz, a route that the AP said typically carries about a fifth of the world’s oil in peacetime.
Trump suggested Monday that his latest deadline, Tuesday at 8 p.m. Eastern time, would be his final one, according to AP. He said, “The entire country can be taken out in one night, and that night might be tomorrow night.”
Some of the market support on Monday also came from economic data. The AP reported that employers hired more workers than economists expected in the latest month, and that the unemployment rate improved unexpectedly, offering a modest offset to concerns about higher costs since the war began.
Gasoline prices have risen sharply since the United States and Israel launched attacks in late February, the AP said, and the report cited AAA’s figure that the average price for regular gasoline was nearly $4.12 a gallon. The AP also said the impact has been worse for countries that rely more heavily on Middle East oil, with reduced access to crude produced in the Persian Gulf area because of the war.
Beyond equities and oil, bond yields were closely watched as a gauge of financing conditions. The AP said the 10-year Treasury yield was 4.33%, which remained above its 3.97% level before the war, a move that has pushed up rates for mortgages and other loans.
In company-specific trading, Apple rose 1.1% and Amazon added 1.4%, while Tesla fell 2.2% and Microsoft fell 0.2%. Bank shares were also strong, including a 1.3% gain for JPMorgan Chase, while investors weighed the guidance and remarks in Jamie Dimon’s annual letter to shareholders released Monday. The AP said Dimon described the U.S. economy as resilient and businesses as healthy, but acknowledged that stock and other asset prices are high and that outcomes “could have a dramatic impact on global markets” if they turn out less than positive.
In broader market context, the AP reported that Japan’s Nikkei 225 added 0.5% and South Korea’s Kospi jumped 1.4%, while many other European and Asian markets were closed for holidays.