Dow Jumps Following Reports of US-Iran Truce, While Tech Stocks Struggle to Recover Last Week's Rout
NEW YORK — The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed Monday as Wall Street welcomed reports that the United States and Iran had agreed to halt their tit-for-tat military exchanges, easing fears of a wider Middle East conflict that had rattled global markets heading into a holiday-shortened trading week.
The blue-chip index rose 141.70 points, or 0.27%, to close at 52,028.65, building on gains in futures trading that had pointed to a higher open from the early hours of the session. The advance followed a turbulent stretch for stocks, in which the Dow proved considerably more resilient than its technology-heavy counterparts, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite, both of which suffered sharp weekly losses last week.
The rally was driven largely by news that Washington and Tehran had agreed to stand down from further attacks, clearing the way for peace talks to resume in Doha this week. The de-escalation came after a tense weekend in which Iran targeted a container ship, a vessel carrying Qatari oil, and military installations in Kuwait and Bahrain, prompting retaliatory strikes from the United States. Those exchanges had tested an earlier agreement intended to pause hostilities during a 60-day negotiating window, and President Donald Trump had warned of the possibility of further American military action if Tehran continued to violate the truce. By Monday morning, however, two U.S. officials told CNN that both sides would "stand down for now" and that talks remained on track, helping calm investor nerves that had built up over the weekend.
Oil prices reflected the shifting........
