Stocks, Bonds Climb as Oil Falls on US-Iran Hopes: Markets Wrap
(Bloomberg) — Stocks and bonds kicked off the week on a positive note as hopes for diplomatic efforts to end the war in Iran drove oil prices lower, easing inflation anxiety.
The advance in equities sent the S&P 500 toward its best day since early August, with a renewed rally in chipmakers also buoying sentiment. The Nasdaq 100 climbed 2.5%. Brent crude sank below $100, dropping for a fourth straight session. Treasury 10-year yields fell under 5%, with traders slightly trimming bets on Federal Reserve rate hikes. Bitcoin topped $85,000.
President Donald Trump told Fox News he would “probably” be open to meeting his Iranian counterpart, Masoud Pezeshkian, on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York this week.
“Signs of diplomacy could ease oil prices and inflation fears, while further escalation or disruptions to regional exports could send crude higher, pressure consumers and complicate the Fed’s next move,” said Jay Woods at Freedom Capital Markets.
Fed Bank of Chicago President Austan Goolsbee warned the central bank cannot ignore repeated and persistent supply shocks, and must respond in a way that may cause economic hardship.
Meantime, US and Chinese officials offered upbeat assessments of their talks on artificial intelligence, trade and investment, signaling a mutual desire to steady ties ahead of this week’s summit between leaders Donald Trump and Xi Jinping.
“Traders are looking for news on any agreements that may reduce tariffs or improve access to critical minerals,” said Woods. “Any positive developments on that front could lift equities particularly those in technology, industrial and consumer stocks.”
The flipside is that a breakdown in talks could revive trade-war concerns and market swings, he added.
US equities are vulnerable to a further increase in energy prices and bond-market volatility, according to Morgan Stanley’s Michael Wilson.
“Should the correction in valuation take a turn for the worse in the near term due to a further tightening of financial conditions and/or materially higher energy prices, we think the S&P 500 could trade as low as 7,100 before the bull market resumes into year end,” Wilson wrote.
The gauge traded around 7,750 on Monday.
Corporate Highlights:
Alphabet Inc.’s Google announced pricing and hardware specifications for the first so-called Googlebooks, marking a push into a high-end laptop market where built-in AI features have become the norm. Amazon.com Inc. has blocked Meta Platforms Inc.’s new AI agent from its retail site after the social media company declined a request to remove the bot. Advanced Micro Devices Inc.’s market value hovered around $1 trillion amid renewed optimism for chipmakers necessary to power AI. Paramount Skydance Corp. has reached a settlement with California and other states suing to block its proposed acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery Inc., according to a person familiar with the matter. AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc. is offering new debt to overhaul much of its capital structure, announcing Monday a plan to refinance first- and second-lien debt and extend maturities. What Bloomberg strategists say…
“Stocks’ resilience in the face of mounting headwinds stems from a robust earnings outlook underpinned by solid economic momentum.”
—Tatiana Darie, Macro Strategist, Markets Live. For the full analysis, click here.
Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
The S&P 500 rose 1.4% as of 1:15 p.m. New York time The Nasdaq 100 rose 2.5% The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.7% The MSCI World Index rose 1.2% Currencies
The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed The euro fell 0.1% to $1.1470 The British pound fell 0.2% to $1.3371 The Japanese yen fell 0.3% to 157.42 per dollar Cryptocurrencies
Bitcoin rose 6.1% to $85,989.2 Ether rose 4.4% to $2,751.33 Bonds
The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined four basis points to 4.96% Germany’s 10-year yield declined six basis points to 3.46% Britain’s 10-year yield declined eight basis points to 5.21% Commodities
West Texas Intermediate crude fell 5.3% to $95 a barrel Spot gold fell 0.7% to $4,346.25 an ounce ©2026 Bloomberg L.P.
