S&P500, Dow, Nasdaq End Lower As Geopolitics And Oil Price Risk Take Center Stage — TSLA, PSKY, MSTR, BABA, NVDA In Focus

• The S&P 500 ended 0.5% lower, while the Nasdaq 100 lost 0.2% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average marginally eased 0.5%.
• Treasury 30-year yields hit the highest level since 2007. 
• Israel carried out attacks on Lebanon, and a minister called for an intensified assault on Gaza. 

U.S. stock indices ended lower on Monday as oil prices spiked, stoking inflation concerns, amid escalating geopolitical tensions in the Middle East. 

The S&P 500 ended 0.5% lower, while the Nasdaq 100 lost 0.2% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average marginally eased 0.5%. The Russell 2000, which tracks stocks with small market capitalizations, slipped 0.4%.

Among ETFs tracking benchmark indexes, the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY) fell 0.5%, and Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) ended Monday 0.2% lower, while the SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF Trust (DIA) was down 0.5%.

Meanwhile, the VanEck Semiconductor ETF (SMH) jumped 1%, taking support from strength in Nvidia (NVDA), Micron Tech (MU) and ASML Holdings (ASML), while the broader Vanguard Information Technology ETF (VGT) gained 1%, led by gains in SpaceX (SPCX). 

Retail sentiment on Stocktwits for QQQ and DIA was ‘bearish’ with ‘high’ message volumes and was ‘bullish’ on the SPY.

US Market Drivers

The ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran is expiring Monday, and negotiations between the two sides have stalled. Iran has ruled out talks to extend the memorandum of understanding, state news agency Tasnim has reported.

On Monday, a senior Iranian official informed Reuters that Iran is prepared to adopt an offensive stance should diplomatic efforts with the U.S. fall through. Concurrently, President Donald Trump stated in a Fox News interview that the U.S. would target Oman with bombing if the nation "gets in the way."

In addition, Israel carried out attacks on Lebanon, and a top Israeli minister called for an intensified assault on Gaza 

These developments triggered a rise in crude prices. U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures gained 2.6%, climbing to $84.50 a barrel, whereas international benchmark Brent crude futures advanced 2.7% to settle at $90.87 per barrel.

In tandem with rising oil prices, the yield on the 30-year Treasury soared to levels not seen since June 2007.“Investors are increasingly focused and concerned about the growing amount of US debt and America’s lack of fiscal discipline,” Anthony Saglimbene at Ameriprise told Bloomberg. 

Key Trending Stocks

Tesla (TSLA): Tesla has reportedly told staff it is preparing a public launch of the Cybercab—its first vehicle without a steering wheel or brake pedal—for its Robotaxi autonomous ride-hailing service, potentially as soon as this month in Austin, Texas.  

Paramount Skydance (PSKY): The company filed a motion on Monday asking a federal judge to order a group of state attorneys general to post a $1.88-billion bond to cover rising costs tied to delays in its pending $110 billion merger with Warner Bros. Discovery. 

Alibaba Group (BABA): The firm released a new artificial intelligence model designed to run directly on consumer hardware such as laptops, stepping up its race against Meta Platforms (META) for leadership in the open-weight AI sector. 

Nvidia (NVDA): The company announced a $1.5 billion investment in SB Energy and a 4.25-gigawatt infrastructure agreement for a data center campus in Ohio, where OpenAI will be the primary tenant. 

Strategy (MSTR): Michael Saylor’s firm did not buy or sell any Bitcoin (BTC) over the past week, but the company continued to raise cash by selling its own stock. 

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