However, Iran’s parliamentary speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf posted on social media that no talks had been held with the US, contradicting Trump’s announcement that the United States and Iran had held talks in the past days in which the two sides had “major points of agreement” and that a deal could soon be reached to resolve the war.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 631.06 points (1.38%) to 46,208.53, while the S&P 500 gained 80.10 points (1.23%) to 6,586.77 and the Nasdaq Composite gained 299.13% (299.13%) points to 21,946.76.
US equities fell last week, but saw a sharp recovery on Monday after Trump’s comments sent oil prices lower. Equities traded lower earlier in the day following threats of attacks on Israeli and Iranian power networks.
“You never know who to believe but it looks like Trump is trying to open talks with someone in Iran to resolve the war despite Iran’s strong denials. This has led to significant optimism in stock prices today, although at their highest levels due to Iranian denials,” said Tim Gresky.
The CBOE volatility index, Wall Street’s fear gauge, retreated after hitting its highest level in two weeks earlier.
Oil prices fell by more than 10% on Monday. All 11 major industry sectors of the S&P 500 advanced with big gains in cyclical sectors such as consumer discretionary while gains in defensive sectors such as healthcare and consumer staples were weak.
“Volatility is likely to continue and it’s all about the price of oil. Nothing else matters to people in the short term. So when oil prices are low, stocks go up and vice versa,” said Bob Dole, chief investment officer at Crossmark Global Investments. “It’s no surprise what’s going on the most today. It’s things with economic sensitivity.”
Meanwhile, investors trimmed the likelihood of an interest rate hike from the US Federal Reserve to around 12% for December from 25% in the previous session, according to CME Group’s FedWatch.
Traders bet on a 70.8% chance that rates will remain unchanged through the end of the year after scaling back bets on a cut last week when the central bank struck a hawkish tone amid concerns about higher inflation.
The small-cap Russell 2000 outperformed the large-cap index on Monday. On Friday, the index, which is sensitive to higher interest rates, ended more than 10% below its record close of January 22, confirming that it was in correction territory.
Fuel-hungry airlines soared on Monday as oil prices fell, with Alaska Air, American Airlines and United Airlines all benefiting. Shares of cruise ship operators rose, with Norwegian Cruise Line, Carnival Corp and Viking Holdings all gaining.
Banks weakened during the conflict gained ground on Monday with the S&P 500 banking index posting its biggest pre-war daily gain.
Investors will look forward to Fed speakers, business activity surveys and consumer sentiment readings this week.
Among individual stocks, Synopsis rallied after activist investor Elliott Investment Management made a multibillion-dollar investment in an electronic design automation firm.
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