At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 62.92 points, or 0.13%, to 49,167.70. The Nasdaq Composite rose 0.20% to 24,887.10, while the S&P 500 edged up 0.12% to 7,173.91.

 

Leading tech stocks were mostly higher. NVIDIA surged 4.0%, with its market value exceeding $5.2 trillion, setting a new record for the world’s largest listed company by market capitalization. Google climbed 1.81%, Tesla and Meta gained more than 0.5%, whereas Amazon and Apple dropped over 1%.

 

The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index ended its 18-session winning streak and closed down 1.34%. ARM plunged 8.06%, while Marvell Technology and AMD fell more than 3%, and Broadcom declined 1.08%. TSMC rose 1.63%, Intel gained 2.97%, and Qualcomm jumped over 7%. Reports stated that Qualcomm will cooperate with OpenAI in the field of smartphone chips.

 

The storage sector showed mixed performance. SanDisk skyrocketed 8.11%, closing above $1,000 for the first time. In a Monday report, Morgan Stanley projected that driven by pricing momentum in NAND flash memory systems, the company would deliver strong quarterly results and full-year guidance once again. Micron Technology advanced 5.60%, Seagate Technology rose 1.64%, and Western Digital dipped 0.81%.

 

Verizon Communications added 1.50%. The telecom operator reported better-than-expected net subscriber additions and raised its full-year business outlook.

 

Domino’s Pizza tumbled 8.8%. Its latest earnings report revealed that quarterly sales missed market estimates.

 

The Nasdaq Golden Dragon China Index fell 1.20%. Alibaba dropped 2.43%, JD.com lost 1.72%, Baidu eased 0.54%, while Pinduoduo inched up 0.45% and NetEase gained 0.71%.

 

The first-quarter earnings season has entered its peak phase. According to Raymond James, companies releasing earnings this week account for approximately 44% of the total market cap of the S&P 500 Index.

 

Many prominent enterprises are set to release financial results this week, including five of the Magnificent Seven tech giants: Amazon, Alphabet (Google’s parent company), Meta, Apple and Microsoft. Investors will assess the extent to which these corporations are reaping returns from massive artificial intelligence investments. As of last Friday, 139 S&P 500 constituents had published Q1 earnings, with 81% beating consensus forecasts. Per Refinitiv data, analysts now expect the overall earnings of the S&P 500 to rise 16.1% year-on-year, up from the 14.4% forecast on April 1.

 

Tim Griskey, Senior Investment Strategist at Ingalls & Snyder, commented: “Markets have responded to strong corporate earnings signals this month, and I believe this trend will persist. Investors will focus on the long-term growth visibility of these large-cap leaders.”

 

Since the current bull market began in October 2022, the S&P 500 has surged more than 100%. Robert Pavlik, Senior Portfolio Manager at Dakota Wealth, noted: “The market is digesting prior rallies and fresh record highs across major indices, attempting to evaluate the rationality of these elevated levels.”

 

According to China Media Group, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed at a Monday press briefing that U.S. President Trump and his national security team held a meeting to discuss Iran’s new negotiation proposal. The United States has received the new negotiation plan from Iran via Pakistan. The Iranian proposal prioritizes resolving the Strait of Hormuz crisis and lifting U.S. maritime sanctions on Iran. As part of the deal, the ceasefire would be extended long-term, or all parties would agree to a permanent end to hostilities. Nuclear negotiations will only commence after the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz and the removal of U.S. blockades. Griskey added: “At present, U.S.-Iran negotiations are stagnant with minimal progress. Nevertheless, markets expect geopolitical tensions to be resolved diplomatically rather than escalating into a ground war.”

 

“With the Strait of Hormuz effectively remaining closed, oil prices have maintained a steady upward trend. Disruptions to Middle Eastern energy supplies have intensified, tightening the supply of critical commodities ranging from crude oil, fuel and natural gas to metals, fertilizers and petrochemical products,” Saxo Bank stated in a research note.

 

The Federal Reserve will kick off its two-day monetary policy meeting on Tuesday, with markets widely expecting interest rates to remain unchanged. Post-meeting statements and Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s press conference will be closely monitored, as investors seek clues regarding the Fed’s assessment of U.S. economic health and inflationary pressures driven by spiking energy prices amid U.S.-Iran tensions.

 

The U.S. Senate Banking Committee is scheduled to advance the nomination of Kevin Warsh for Fed Chair to a full Senate vote on Wednesday, with the ballot set for 10:00 a.m. ET (10:00 p.m. Beijing Time). The timing coincides with the conclusion of Powell’s two-day policy meeting, significantly boosting the likelihood of Warsh’s smooth transition to the Fed leadership.

 

U.S. Treasury yields across the medium and long end of the curve climbed. The benchmark 10-year yield rose 3 basis points to 4.34%, and the rate-sensitive 2-year yield increased 3.2 basis points to 3.81%.

 

On the economic data front, the Dallas Fed Manufacturing Index fell from -0.2 in March to -2.3, well below the market consensus of 0.8, signalling accelerated contraction in manufacturing activity across the western United States.

 

International crude oil prices rose for the sixth consecutive trading day. Front-month WTI crude futures gained 2.09% to settle at $96.37 per barrel, while front-month Brent crude futures jumped 2.75% to close at $108.23 per barrel.

 

Precious metals faced downward pressure. COMEX April gold futures dropped 1.2% to $4,683.80 per ounce, and COMEX silver futures fell 1.9% to $75.49 per ounce.