Oil prices rose on Monday following the latest fighting to threaten the US-Iran ceasefire, but Wall Street appeared unworried and US stocks rose to more records.
- The S&P 500 rose 19.90 points, or 0.3%, to 7,599.96.
- The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 46.42 points, or 0.1%, to 51,078.88.
- The Nasdaq composite rose 114.19 points, or 0.4%, to 27,086.81.
All three indexes hit new all-time highs. The price for a barrel of Brent crude rose more than 4%, which pushed up Treasury yields and hurt companies with big fuel bills, the
AP reports. But strong profit reports from US companies and continued strength for big technology stocks kept Wall Street's momentum going.
Despite records being broken, a slight majority of US stocks actually fell, including companies with big fuel bills hurt by higher oil prices. United Airlines lost 2.6%, and Alaska Air Group fell 3.3% after the price for a barrel of Brent crude oil climbed 4.2% to settle at $94.98. That clawed back a chunk of Brent's loss from last week and means it's still well above its price of roughly $70 from before the war. Expensive oil has already sent inflation higher, which not only increases bills for households but also pushes up bond yields. High yields worldwide recently have threatened to slow economies and undercut prices for stocks and all kinds of other investments. But yields regressed during the day as oil prices came off their highest levels.
Nvidia was the strongest force lifting the market and rose 6.2% after CEO Jensen Huang announced several product updates at a conference. What Nvidia does matters immensely for the US stock market because it's the biggest in terms of overall market value. That means the movements for its stock carry more weight on the S&P 500 than any other's. And Wall Street's biggest companies have been growing so much that they're dominating the market. The top 10 stocks control nearly half the S&P 500's total market value, a 40-year high, according to Thomas Carroll, equity market strategist at Stifel.
- Science Applications International Corp. jumped 10.4% after becoming the latest US company to report bigger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. SAIC also raised forecasts for upcoming financial results. A cavalcade of such better-than-expected profit reports has helped the US stock market push to records despite the uncertainty created by the war with Iran.
Berkshire Hathaway fell 0.9% after saying it would buy homebuilder Taylor Morrison Home for $6.8 billion. It's one of the first big acquisitions announced by the company since Greg Abel took over as its leader from famed investor Warren Buffett. Taylor Morrison Home jumped 22.3%. MGM Resorts International leaped 16.1% after People Inc., Barry Diller's business that was formerly known as IAC, offered to buy the rest of the company it doesn't already own for $48.30 per share in cash.
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