Highlights
Stocks seesawed in cautious, uncertain trading to end flat to down Monday as the market awaited clarity on the Iran war. Stocks faced selling pressure early with oil prices spiking up as the market's hopes for an early end to the Iran-US war came into question over the weekend.
The Dow Jones industrial average closed flat, the S&P 500 eased 0.2 percent and the Nasdaq was off 0.3 percent. Bond yields were mostly higher and the dollar was mostly lower.
The US and Iran remained at odds with the threat of a return of open warfare rising after US warships fired on an Iranian freighter and seized it near the Strait of Hormuz. That spurred worries that the ceasefire would expire this week and the Strait of Hormuz would remain blocked. The US side has said its top emissaries would meet Iran in Pakistan this week and Iran initially denied it has agreed to resume talks, but later reports suggested Iran would participate in talks after all.
Among sectors, megacaps had a bad day to depress the major averages. Consumer discretionary lagged as Tesla came off ahead of its earnings report due this week. Information technology recovered as the day went on from early lows.
Definition
Market Reflections track market reaction to the trading day's major events. Economic data, policymaker speeches, and company news are featured in this report as well as key indexes and financial instruments.
Description
Understanding why markets respond as they do is fundamental for an investor. Market Reflections help explain how the day's events, news, and data impact the outlook for the economy and for market prices.