WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Following the relatively lackluster performance seen during last Friday's session, stocks have continued to show a lack of direction over the course of the trading day on Monday. The major averages have spent the day bouncing back and forth across the unchanged line.
Currently, the major averages are turning in a mixed performance. While the Dow is down 74.59 points or 0.2 percent at 50,957.87, the S&P 500 is up 11.12 points or 0.2 percent at 7,591.18 and the Nasdaq is up 100.90 points or 0.4 percent at 27,073.52.
The choppy trading on Wall Street comes as traders weigh optimism about the AI trade against uncertainty about the latest developments in the Middle East conflict.
Some early buying interest was generated after Nvidia (NVDA) unveiled a new superchip RTX Spark in collaboration with Microsoft (MSFT) that the company said reinvents Windows PCs for the era of personal AI agents.
'The PC is being reinvented,' said NVIDIA founder and CEO Jensen Huang. 'For forty years, you launched apps. Click. Type. With RTX Spark and Microsoft Windows, you ask - and the PC does the work.'
Shares of Nvidia are surging by 4.4 percent, while shares of Microsoft are jumping by 2.8 percent. PC makers Dell (DELL) and HP (HPQ) are also seeing significant strength.
However, the positive sentiment has been offset by a sharp increase by the price of crude oil, with U.S. crude oil futures soaring by nearly 7 percent.
Crude oil prices spiked after Iran's state-affiliated news outlet Tasnim said Tehran will halt peace talks with the U.S. and completely close the Strait of Hormuz in response to Israeli attacks in Lebanon.
The report comes after U.S. Central Command said it conducted 'self-defense strikes' on Iranian radar and command and control sites for drones in Iran over the weekend.
Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps also said it targeted an airbase allegedly used in a U.S. attack on a telecommunications tower on Sirik Island in southern Hormozgan province.
President Donald Trump claimed in a post on Truth Social early this morning that 'Iran really wants to make a deal' but urged patience amid ongoing negotiations.
'Just sit back and relax, it will all work out well in the end - It always does!' Trump said.
Sector News
Despite the lackluster performance by the broader markets, software stocks have moved sharply higher on the day, with the Dow Jones U.S. Software Index surging by 3.9 percent.
The spike by the price of crude oil has also contributed to substantial strength among oil producer stocks, driving the NYSE Arca Oil Index up by 3.5 percent.
Computer hardware, semiconductor and networking stocks are also seeing considerable strength on the day.
On the other hand, airline stocks have shown a significant move to the downside, dragging the NYSE Arca Airline Index down by 3 percent.
Gold, pharmaceutical and retail stocks are also seeing considerable weakness, offsetting the strength in the aforementioned sectors.
Other Markets
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region turned in a mixed performance during trading on Monday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index climbed by 0.9 percent, while China's Shanghai Composite Index fell by 0.3 percent.
Meanwhile, the major European markets have all moved to the downside on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index is down by 0.9 percent, the French CAC 40 Index is down by 0.7 percent and the German DAX Index is down by 0.5 percent.
In the bond market, treasuries have come under pressure in reaction to the spike by the price of crude oil. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is up by 5.3 basis points at 4.506 percent.
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