U.S. stocks opened higher Monday as technology shares steadied and oil prices fell while investors watched a conditional Iranian proposal concerning the Strait of Hormuz.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 403.09 points, or 0.78%, to 52,173.40 at 9:30 a.m. ET, Reuters reported. The S&P 500 rose 0.45% to 7,613.87, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.63% to 25,596.07.
By 10:15 a.m. ET, the Dow had added 1.1%, the S&P 500 was up 0.8% and the Nasdaq Composite had gained 1%, the Associated Press reported. Brent crude dropped 6.7% to $105.87 a barrel. The AP linked lower oil prices to gains in fuel-intensive businesses: United Airlines rose 6.5%, Southwest Airlines added 4.2% and Carnival advanced 4.6%.
Reuters and AP said hopes for progress in U.S.-Iran diplomacy accompanied the oil decline. Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei said a seven-stage proposal had been condensed into a plan that could be implemented within two days. He said reopening the Strait depended on Washington ending its naval blockade and meeting Iran’s demands, Tasnim News Agency reported. AP reported no indication the United States had accepted the proposal.
The advance came after a week of technology and AI share losses, according to AP, amid investor questions about whether costly data-center projects would deliver enough value. Reuters put the Nasdaq-100’s October decline in market value at more than $2.5 trillion and said investors were questioning the payoff from Big Tech’s AI spending. Reuters also reported that some companies issued bonds to finance part of that investment.
Apple was scheduled to release quarterly results after Monday’s close, while Advanced Micro Devices was expected to report later in the week, Reuters said. Kiran Ganesh, a multi-asset strategist at UBS Global Wealth Management, told Reuters he expected trading to stay unsettled as companies report results.
