Stocks ripped higher Monday, recovering their footing after a tough week, as tech shares rebounded and tensions in the Middle East dimmed. Traders also looked ahead to the release of major earnings.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 253.58 points, or 0.67%, to close at 38,239.98. The S&P 500 traded 0.87% higher to finish the session at 5,010.60, while the Nasdaq Composite advanced 1.11% to 15,451.31. Both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq ended a six-day losing streak.
Chipmaker and artificial intelligence favorite Nvidia climbed 4.4%, bouncing from a nearly 14% sell-off last week, its worst since September 2022. Arm Holdings also rebounded nearly 7% on Monday.
U.S. crude prices slipped after Iran said it will not escalate the conflict with Israel. Investors had been concerned higher oil prices could contribute to inflation, leading the Federal Reserve to hold off on cutting rates.
“There are probably two dynamics at work behind the better tone in global stock markets … the decline in gold and oil prices, and the steadiness (rather than rise) in the USD,” said Thierry Wizman, global FX and rates strategist at Macquarie. “For one, concern over a spreading regional war in the Middle East has faded. The movement away from a wider conflagration, and back to a shadow war is probably why US bond yields are higher today.”
Big earnings and data ahead
Companies including Tesla, Meta Platforms, American Airlines, Microsoft and Alphabet are all set to report this week.
“Those earnings reports are likely to determine whether the tech sell-off ends or continues or perhaps we continue to see investors differentiate between the growth outlooks for some of these high-profile growth companies that have led the market over the last couple of years,” said Chris Fasciano, portfolio manager at Commonwealth Financial Network.
There is some potentially bigger news in the back part of this week, with GDP due out on Thursday and a key inflation reading on Friday, when the Commerce Department reports personal consumption expenditures price index data for March. The PCE deflator is the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge.
The Fed meets again April 30 to May 1, with officials now in the quiet period ahead of the meeting.
Correction: A previous version misstated when Apple would report earnings.