After a choppy morning, equities perked up a little on the news the United States was reviewing Iran’s latest proposal, disclosed earlier by Iranian sources.
The proposal involved setting aside discussion of Iran’s nuclear programme until the war is ended and disputes over shipping from the Gulf are resolved. Sources from mediator Pakistan said on Monday that work has not halted to bridge gaps between the United States and Iran.
“The market has come to the conclusion that there will be a resolution sooner or later,” said John Praveen, co-chief investment officer at Paleo Leon in Princeton, New Jersey.
Still, oil futures settled higher on Monday on concerns about tight energy supplies as the war, triggered by US-Israeli strikes on Iran two months ago, has limited energy shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.
US crude settled up 2.09%, or US$1.97 at US$96.37 a barrel, while Brent settled at US$108.23 per barrel, up 2.75%, or US$2.90, on the day.
On Wall Street the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 62.92 points, or 0.13%, to 49,167.79, the S&P 500 rose 8.83 points, or 0.12%, to 7,173.91 and the Nasdaq Composite rose 50.50 points, or 0.20%, to 24,887.10.
MSCI’s gauge of stocks across the globe rose 2.32 points, or 0.22%, to 1,074.52. Earlier, the pan-European STOXX 600 index closed down 0.3%.
While worrying about the Iran war, investors also waited with bated breath for economic data and earnings reports, according to Phil Blancato, chief market strategist at Osaic Wealth in New York.
This week’s data will include first-quarter US economic growth and the March Personal Consumption Expenditures Price Index, which is the Federal Reserve’s preferred gauge for inflation.
“We’re in this holding-on moment here. I don’t think the market’s going to grind a lot higher,” said Blancato. “The market is trying to hold on to its gains, waiting for more information to support where we’ve gone so far this year.”
Capital expenditure plans will be a key focus for firms such as Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon and Meta Platforms when they report quarterly results on Wednesday, while Apple is scheduled to release results a day later.
Central bank meetings
In currencies, the US dollar slipped on Monday as investors were on edge about the Middle East and a slate of central bank meetings later this week.
The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies including the yen and the euro, fell 0.16% to 98.49, with the euro up 0.01% at US$1.1721.
Against the Japanese yen, the dollar strengthened 0.01% to 159.39.
Major central banks are expected to keep policy on hold this week, including the US Federal Reserve. The Fed’s meeting, which runs Tuesday through Wednesday, will likely be the last with Jerome Powell as chair.
The first central bank to meet will be the Bank of Japan, which is expected on Tuesday to keep its short-term policy rate steady at 0.75%, while the European Central Bank and Bank of England are expected to keep policy unchanged.
In US Treasuries, the yield on benchmark US 10-year notes rose 2.5 basis points to 4.336%, from 4.31% late on Friday, while the 30-year bond yield rose 2.5 basis points to 4.9409%.
The 2-year note yield, which typically moves in step with interest rate expectations for the Federal Reserve, rose 2.3 basis points to 3.799%, from 3.776% late on Friday.
In precious metals, spot gold fell 0.62% to US$4,679.09 an ounce.