Closing Stock Market SummaryThe S&P 500 declined as much as 0.6% shortly after Monday's open as tensions escalated in the Middle East, but a rebound led by mega-cap technology stocks helped the benchmark index close at session highs with a 0.4% gain. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.2%, the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.6%, and the Russell 2000 gained 0.1%.
Rhetoric heated up between the U.S. and Iran over the weekend following Friday's deadly airstrike, but investors viewed the current geopolitical angst as mostly inconsequential for the economy and the earnings prospects of U.S. companies. Supporting this view was the rebound in stocks, the fade in oil prices ($63.26, +0.23, +0.4%), and the sharp reversal in the CBOE Volatility Index (13.89, -0.13, -0.9%).
The S&P 500 communication services sector (+1.2%) was today's sector leader, largely due to the 2.5% gain in shares of Alphabet (GOOG 1394.21, +33.55) after the stock was upgraded to Buy from Hold at Pivotal Research Group.
Fellow tech giants Facebook (FB 212.60, +3.93, +1.9%), Amazon (AMZN 1902.88, +27.91, +1.5%), and Apple (AAPL 299.80, +2.37, +0.8%) also provided influential support for the broader market.
Conversely, the S&P 500 materials (-0.5%), financials (-0.1%), and industrials (-0.03%) sectors finished with modest losses, while the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (-1.0%) succumbed to some profit-taking interest.
Separately, shares of Salesforce (CRM 173.45, +7.28, +4.4%) hit a new all-time high after the stock was upgraded to Top Pick from Outperform at RBC Capital Mkts. Shares of CrowdStrike (CRWD 55.11, +4.36, +8.6%) climbed nearly 9% as part of a cyber-security play against possible hacking threats from Iran.
U.S. Treasuries finished the session on a lower note, as investors bought the dip in equities. The 2-yr yield increased three basis points to 1.54%, and the 10-yr yield increased two basis points to 1.81%. The U.S. Dollar Index declined 0.2% to 96.66.
Investors did not receive any notable economic data on Monday. The ISM Non-Manufacturing Index for December, the Trade Balance Report for November, and the Factory Orders report for November will be released on Tuesday.
- Nasdaq Composite +1.1% YTD
- Dow Jones Industrial Average +0.6% YTD
- S&P 500 +0.5% YTD
- Russell 2000 -0.3% YTD