WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - After showing a strong move to the upside early in the session, stocks have seen considerable volatility over the course of the trading day on Monday. The major averages have shown wild swings but have largely maintained a positive bias.
Currently, the major averages are in positive territory but well off their highs of the session. The Nasdaq is up 253.33 points or 1 percent at 25,550.95, the S&P 500 is up 40.16 points or 0.6 percent at 7,394.18 and the Dow is up 199.77 points or 0.4 percent at 52,075.88.
The roller coaster ride on Wall Street largely reflects volatility in the tech sector, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq surging by as much as 1.6 percent before pulling back sharply and briefly turning negative territory.
The Nasdaq has shown a strong move back to the upside since then, regaining ground after plunging by more than 4 percent last week.
Within the tech sector, networking stocks are currently turning in some of the best performances, driving the NYSE Arca Networking Index up by 2.4 percent.
Considerable strength is also visible among software stocks, as reflected by the 1.2 percent gain being posted by the Dow Jones U.S. Software Index.
Outside of the tech sector, retail stocks are seeing significant strength on the day, resulting in a 1.9 percent jump by the Dow Jones U.S. Retail Index.
Meanwhile, gold stocks are moving sharply lower along with the price of the precious metal, while brokerage, airline and housing stocks are also seeing notable weakness.
Investors are also keeping an eye on developments in the Middle East, as the U.S. and Iran have reportedly agreed to once again pause hostilities following an exchange of strikes over the weekend.
President Donald Trump claimed in a post on Truth Social this morning that Iran has requested a meeting, with the talks set to take place in Doha, Qatar.
'Once again, the familiar pattern has played out: renewed exchanges between the U.S. and Iran over the weekend briefly unsettled markets, only for reports of both sides returning to negotiations to restore confidence by Monday morning,' said Daniela Hathorn, Senior Market Analyst at Capital.com.
'That confidence, however, may be getting ahead of the facts,' she added. 'While markets appear comfortable pricing a relatively swift normalization of energy markets, there remain clear signs that negotiations are far from straightforward.'
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly higher on Monday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index rose by 0.2 percent, while China's Shanghai Composite Index jumped by 1.2 percent and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index shot up by 1.6 percent.
Meanwhile, the major European markets have moved to the downside on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index is down by 0.6 percent, the German DAX Index is down by 0.3 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index is down by 0.2 percent.
In the bond market, treasuries have shown a lack of direction over the course of the session. Currently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is up by less than a basis point at 4.378 percent.
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