US stocks trimmed earlier losses on Monday, helped by a modest pullback in benchmark oil prices and a decline in bond yields, even as tensions in the Middle East escalated. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 edged higher, supported by gains in software and application companies, while the Dow hovered just below unchanged.
Over the weekend, the US failed to reach an agreement with Iran, leading President Trump to announce a blockade on tankers carrying Iranian energy. Oil and gas prices rose as the conflict dragged on, but the muted move in longer-dated Treasury yields limited equity downside, signaling relatively low market concern about a worsening inflation outlook.
Oracle, Palantir, CrowdStrike, and ServiceNow each climbed more than 5%. In contrast, banks and asset managers traded mixed ahead of this week’s earnings reports, which are expected to highlight the impact of higher yields and potential vulnerabilities related to private credit. Goldman Sachs was first out of the gate, falling 4% after missing revenue expectations in its fixed-income, currencies, and commodities trading division.
