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Wall Street ended sharply higher on Monday, fueled by gains in AI-related stocks, with Meta Platforms climbing after a report that it is preparing for sweeping layoffs, while oil prices retreated amid ongoing uncertainty about the Middle East conflict.

The Dow Jones rose 387.94 points, or 0.83%, to 46,946.41, the S&P 500 gained 69.92 points, or 1.05%, to 6,702.18, and the Nasdaq advanced 268.82 points, or 1.22%, to 22,374.18. Read More

Wall Street ended sharply higher on Monday, fueled by gains in AI-related stocks, with ​Meta Platforms climbing after a report that it is preparing for sweeping layoffs, while oil prices retreated amid ongoing uncertainty about the Middle East conflict.

The Dow Jones rose 387.94 points, or 0.83%, to 46,946.41, the S&P 500 gained 69.92 points, or 1.05%, to 6,702.18, and the Nasdaq advanced 268.82 points, or 1.22%, to 22,374.18.

Despite logging declines over the past three weeks, U.S. equities have fared better than global peers, buoyed by a rebound ​in beaten-down technology stocks and as the country is a net oil exporter. However, the S&P 500 remains down about 2% so far in 2026.

A ​direct communications channel between U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas ‌Araghchi has ⁠been ⁠reactivated in recent days, Axios reported ​on Monday, citing a U.S. official and ​a source with knowledge of the matter.

Axios said it was ​not clear how ⁠substantive the ‌messages passed between Araghchi ​and ​Witkoff had been, adding ⁠it was the first known direct communication ​between the parties since ​the United States and Israel launched their war on Iran.

Axios cited its sources as saying Araghchi had sent ‌text messages to Witkoff. It reported the U.S. official said Washington ​was “not ​talking” to ⁠Tehran.

• Bitcoin rose to nearly a six-week high as investors returned to riskier assets amid optimism that market turmoil linked to the Middle East conflict may be easing.
• The cryptocurrency gained about 4% to $74,512, its highest level since Feb. 4, before trimming some gains.
• Despite the rally, Bitcoin remains roughly 40% below its record high reached in October.

Micron Technology shares surged over 5% in midday trading on Monday after the memory and storage company announced plans to build a second chip manufacturing facility in Taiwan.

The new plant will be set up at a site acquired from Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp. and will produce advanced DRAM products, including high-bandwidth memory (HBM), to support growing AI demand.

• At the annual developer conference of Nvidia, CEO Jensen Huang said the company expects $1 trillion in orders for its Blackwell and Vera Rubin systems by 2027.
• The company also indicated that growth in 2026 is likely to surpass earlier projections, which had estimated a $500 billion revenue opportunity from the Blackwell and Rubin platforms.
• Huang said demand is booming from startups and big companies alike.
• Nvidia shares were trading at $183.29, up 1.6%
  
  

The Fed is widely expected to leave interest rates ​unchanged at the end of its two-day meeting on Wednesday. Traders have pushed back their expectations for ​an interest rate cut of at least 25 basis points beyond October, according to LSEG-compiled data, compared with their previous expectation of a cut in July.

Wall Street rallied on Monday, led higher by AI-related stocks, with Meta Platforms climbing ​after a report that it is preparing for sweeping layoffs, while oil prices retreated amid ongoing uncertainty about the Middle East conflict.

Meta jumped 5.1% after Reuters reported that the social media platform plans to shrink its workforce by 20% or more to offset costly artificial-intelligence infrastructure bets and prepare for greater efficiency brought about by AI-assisted workers.

Nvidia climbed 2.4% as ‌CEO Jensen Huang ⁠kicked off the ⁠chipmaker’s annual developer conference, where he was set to detail its hardware and software plans.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s enforcement director will be leaving the agency in a sudden ‌move ⁠coming just ⁠over six months after she started on ​the job, sources familiar with the matter ​told Reuters on Monday.

Former military judge Margaret Ryan has led the SEC’s enforcement unit ​since joining the ⁠agency in ‌early September. Ryan had a ​background ​as a lawyer but little ⁠experience specific to securities law. Republican Chairman ​Paul Atkins took the helm at ​the SEC last April and took several months to get top leaders in place, including Ryan.

In an email seen by Reuters, ‌Ryan said she was resigning effective immediately in a move that ​caught ​many off-guard. ⁠The SEC did not respond immediately to requests for comment.

Small investors in the US may soon face stricter rules for influencing corporate boards, as federal regulators consider measures that could raise the threshold for submitting shareholder proposals. Business groups are pushing for tougher ownership requirements similar to a Texas rule mandating at least $1 million in stock or a 3% stake.

Governance advocates warn that such changes could significantly weaken the voice of individual investors, activist networks and faith-based groups. Currently, small shareholders can submit proposals with holdings as low as $2,000, though most proposals struggle to gain majority support and are non-binding even when approved.

The debate has intensified after the SEC decided it will not evaluate company objections to shareholder proposals during the 2026 proxy season due to a backlog. Critics say this could allow companies to exclude proposals more easily, while business groups continue pushing for tighter limits on shareholder access to corporate ballots. Read More

Electronic trading on the London Metal Exchange’s LME Select platform resumed at 1730 GMT ‌on Monday ⁠after an ⁠outage of nearly three hours caused by a technical issue.

Prices for the LME’s metal contracts, including copper, aluminium, lead, zinc, nickel and tin stopped updating on LSEG’s Workspace platform shortly before 1500 GMT. Read More

Gold prices eased on Monday, as concerns that inflation ​stemming from the Middle East conflict could keep interest rates higher for longer outweighed support from a softer dollar and safe-haven demand.

Spot gold fell 0.5% to $4,993.42 per ounce, by 1:31 p.m. ‌ET (1731 GMT), after ⁠hitting ⁠its lowest level since February 19 earlier in the session.

U.S. gold futures for April delivery settled ​1.2% lower at $5,002.20.

More than 10,000 U.S. flights were delayed ​or canceled Monday amid a series of storms affecting several major airports along the East Coast and some other locales.

Because of ‌the risk ⁠of high ⁠winds and severe thunderstorms, the Federal Aviation Administration ordered delays ​at the New York City area’s three airports – New York’s LaGuardia ​and JFK and Newark airport in New Jersey – as well as at Reagan Washington National Airport, airports at ​Charlotte and Atlanta, and Houston’s Bush ⁠airport.

Transportation Secretary ‌Sean Duffy said the weather was impacting ​flights ​across the country. A major winter storm ⁠was also snarling flights across the Midwest and ​Great Lakes states.

London’s ​FTSE 100 rose on Monday as falling oil prices lifted sentiment across stock markets, with investors also keeping a close eye on the Bank of England’s rate decision due later this week. The ‌blue-chip FTSE ⁠100 finished ⁠0.6% higher after starting the session on a steady note.

Sentiment improved after oil prices turned ​negative for the day, easing around 1% after the U.S. said it would allow some Iranian, ​Indian and Chinese ships to pass through the Strait of Hormuz.

Leading the gains on the blue-chip index, however, were financial and consumer staples, which rose over 1% each.

Britain’s mid-cap index closed lower for the fourth consecutive session, down 0.2%.

REIT sector advanced 1.4% with Segro and Hammerson rising 2.8% and 4.1%, respectively. Morgan Stanley upgraded some European property companies including Segro and Hammerson to overweight ‌from equal-weight.

U.S. President Donald Trump said on ​Monday that it was unclear whether new Iranian leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei was still alive, given reports he had been ‌injured in ⁠an ⁠air strike.

“We don’t know … if he’s dead or not. ​I will say that nobody has seen him, which is unusual,” ​he said during an event at the White House.

After Iran’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, was killed ​in the initial strikes of the ⁠war, Tehran ‌announced his son, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, ​had ​been named as his successor. Pentagon chief ⁠Pete Hegseth said last week the new ​leader was believed to have been wounded ​in a strike. He has not been seen publicly.

“A lot of people are saying that he’s badly disfigured. They’re saying that he lost his leg … and he’s been hurt very badly. ‌Other people are saying he’s dead,” Trump said.

“We don’t know who their leader is. We have people wanting to negotiate. We have no idea who they are,” Trump said.

European publishers, ​tech firms and startups have urged EU antitrust regulators to wrap up a nearly two-year probe into Google’s alleged favouring of its own services in online searches and impose a fine on the U.S. tech giant.

In a letter to EU leaders, the ‌European Publishers Council – whose ⁠members include ⁠Axel Springer, News Corp and Conde Nast – the European Magazine Media Association, the European Tech Alliance, EU Travel Tech and others called ​for the investigation to be finished next week.

The push underscores tensions within the bloc over the complex balance of regulating Big ​Tech, with regular clashes between Washington and Brussels over rules curbing the dominance of U.S. companies in social media, online search and AI.

Several U.S. allies said on Monday they had no immediate plans to ​send ships to unblock the Strait of Hormuz.

Germany, Spain and Italy were among allies that ruled out participating in any mission in the Gulf, at least for now. Other countries were more circumspect, with Britain and Denmark saying they would consider ways they might help, but emphasising a need to de-escalate and avoid getting dragged into the war. France has said it will probably help.

Earlier on Monday, Treasury Secretary Scott ‌Bessent said the U.S. was “fine” with some Iranian, Indian and Chinese ships going through the Strait of Hormuz for now. Oil prices eased about 1% on Monday.

United States President Donald Trump criticized US allies on Monday for their lukewarm response to his call to help protect shipping in the Strait of Hormuz during the US war against Iran.

Trump wants nations to help police the strait after Iran responded to U.S.-Israeli attacks by using drones, missiles and mines to effectively close ⁠the channel ‌for tankers that usually transport a fifth of global oil ⁠and liquefied natural gas. Read more

Bank of America and ​Standard Chartered on Monday raised their 2026 ​oil price forecasts, citing a prolonged supply shock from the shutdown ​of the Strait of Hormuz and the likelihood of a long-tail disruption to global energy markets.

Bank of America raised its 2026 Brent crude forecast to $77.50 a barrel from $61 earlier, while Standard Chartered raised its projection to $85.50, from $70 ‌earlier.

The war in ⁠Iran ⁠has disrupted the Strait of Hormuz, the key shipping lane linking the Persian Gulf to the Arabian Sea. The waterway ​is vital for global energy flows, carrying around one-fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG) supplies.

German ​Chancellor Friedrich Merz ​said on Monday that ​Germany would not participate in the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran.

“We ‌lack ⁠the mandate ⁠from the United ​Nations, the European Union or NATO required ​under the Basic Law. It was therefore clear from ​the outset ⁠that this ‌war is ​not ​a matter for ⁠NATO,” Merz said at a news conference ​in Berlin.

“The United ​States of America and Israel did not consult us prior to this war either. As ‌for Iran, there has never been ​a joint decision ​on ⁠the ‘whether’ of the matter. That is why the question of how ​Germany might become militarily involved here does not arise,” he added.

Global hedge funds ​sold shares of bank, insurance, fin-tech and trading companies ​in the week to March 13, making financials the most sold stock sector this year, said Goldman Sachs in a note to clients seen by Reuters on Monday.

Hedge funds “aggressively shorted” ‌global financial stocks last ⁠week ⁠and the sector was net sold internationally, the note said. Read More

Bund yields fell on Monday from their highest in almost 2-1/2 ​years as the Trump administration focused on getting oil through the Strait of Hormuz, although traders continued to bet on inflation shock forcing central bankers to raise rates.

Oil prices are up more than 40% this month as Iran has halted shipments through the strait in retaliation for U.S. and Israeli air ‌strikes.

However, they fell ⁠slightly on ⁠Monday as U.S. President Donald Trump increased pressure on allies to help oil through the strait and as Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the administration is “fine” with ​some Iranian, Indian and Chinese ships going through the passage.

Yields on Germany’s 10-year government bond, the euro zone benchmark, fell 4 basis points (bps) to ​2.933%. On Friday they touched 2.994%, the highest level since October 2023.

Vietnamese electric vehicle manufacturer VinFast said on Monday its fourth-quarter net loss widened from a year earlier as it increased impairment charges related to its U.S. plant, which it aims to resume construction of this ‌year.

VinFast made a ⁠net ⁠loss of 35.2 trillion dong ($1.34 billion) in the final quarter of 2025, 46.5% wider than the same period of 2024 and 15% wider ​than in the previous quarter. Adjustments in the book value of its proposed North Carolina plant accounted for $235.6 million of ​the loss. Read more

London Metal Exchange says some trading halted due to ‘an issue’

The London ​Metal Exchange is ‌aware of ⁠an ⁠issue ​with prices ​not ​changing ⁠on its ‌metals ​contracts ​and is ⁠working to ​resolve it ​as soon ‌as possible, ​a ​spokesperson ⁠for the exchange said on ​Monday.

Private-credit market jitters have spilled onto Wall Street, with some major U.S. banks tightening lending while the funds have capped withdrawals as mounting concerns prompt firms to curb risk ​and brace for further strain.

Sentiment had been dented by concerns over valuations and transparency, ​as well as cases such as the bankruptcy of auto-parts supplier First Brands and car dealership Tricolor, where some private-credit lenders held exposure.

U.S. banks had ​almost $300 billion in loans outstanding to private-credit providers as of June 2025, and a further $285 billion lent to private-equity funds, along with $340 billion in unused lending commitments to those borrowers, according to data from Moody’s. Read More

U.S. factory production increased marginally in February as manufacturing remained constrained by tariffs on ​imports, and the conflict in the Middle East could raise operating costs. Other data ​on Monday showed sentiment among single-family homebuilders nudging up in March. Manufacturing and the housing market have been hardest hit by higher interest rates and President ​Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs, with business leaders and builders saying the duties had increased costs. Trump has defended the tariffs, which have been struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court, as necessary to protect domestic manufacturing, though about 100,000 factory jobs have been lost since January 2025.

Manufacturing output rose 0.2% last month after an upwardly revised 0.8% gain in January, the Federal Reserve said. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast production for the sector, which accounts for 10.1% of the economy, rising 0.1% after a previously reported ​0.6% rise in January. Production at factories advanced 1.3% year on year in February.

Motor vehicle production increased 1.7% after surging 2.4% in January. There were also solid gains in the output of computer and electronic products as ​well as electrical equipment, appliances and components, likely reflecting an artificial intelligence spending boom.

A JPMorgan-led group ​of banks on Monday ​began marketing to investors a $5.75 billion loan ​helping finance the leveraged buyout of Electronic Arts , according to a term sheet seen by Reuters. The seven-year ‌term loan ⁠B consists ⁠of a $4 billion U.S. dollar portion as well as ​a 1.531 billion euro ($1.75 billion-equivalent) portion, according to the term ​sheet, which will help finance game publisher EA’s $55 billion take-private deal by a consortium of investors including ​Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, Silver ⁠Lake and ‌Affinity Partners.

There is also a $3.25 ​billion ​term loan A and $9 billion in other ⁠dollar and euro-denominated secured and unsecured debt, according ​to the term sheet.

The take-private deal ​is expected to close in June, according to the firms’ September announcement.

Bank of America has settled a civil lawsuit brought by women who accused the bank of facilitating their sexual abuse by Jeffrey Epstein, court records showed on Monday. The ‌proposed class action, ⁠filed ⁠in October by a woman using the pseudonym Jane Doe, accused the nation’s second-largest bank of ignoring ​suspicious financial transactions related to Epstein despite a “plethora” of information about his crimes because it valued ​profit over protecting victims.

Bank of America has said Doe alleged merely that it provided routine services to people who at the time had no known links ​to Epstein, and that any suggestion that it was ⁠more deeply involved ‌was “threadbare and meritless.” Manhattan-based U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff ruled ​in January that ​Bank of America must face Doe’s claims that it knowingly benefited ⁠from Epstein’s sex trafficking and obstructed enforcement of the federal ​Trafficking Victims Protection Act. Rakoff must still approve the settlement. Among ​the transactions Doe flagged were payments to Epstein by Apollo Global Management’s billionaire co-founder, Leon Black.

Black stepped down as Apollo’s chief executive in 2021 after a review by an outside law firm found he had paid Epstein $158 million for tax and estate planning.

He has denied wrongdoing and said he was unaware of Epstein’s ‌criminal conduct.

Bank of America shares were trading 0.8% higher at $47.13.

U.S. President Donald Trump will sign an executive order on Monday to formally launch a task ‌force to ⁠prove ⁠fraud nationwide led by U.S. Vice President JD Vance, ​White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said.

Trump and Vance are ​scheduled to sign the order at 3:30 p.m. Eastern Time (1930 GMT) at the White House, ​according to the president’s schedule.

Trump ⁠previously tasked ‌Vance with leading administration efforts to ​investigate ​fraud in Minnesota. The forthcoming order “will ⁠investigate fraud across the country,” Leavitt ​told reporters at the White House.

Member ​countries ​of the International Energy ​Agency could release more emergency oil stocks later “as and ‌if ⁠needed” ⁠as there will ​still be over 1.4 billion barrels ​remaining in their emergency oil stocks ​despite the largest ⁠release of ‌reserves ​in ​history already agreed, Executive ⁠Director Fatih Birol said on ​Monday.

“Despite this huge ​release, we still have a lot of stocks left. This current ‌stock release, once it is completed, ​will reduce ​the ⁠emergency stocks in IEA countries only by around 20%,” ​Birol said in a video statement.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang is set to detail the company’s hardware and software plans to a large crowd in San Jose, California, at its annual developer conference on Monday.

Shares of the company were up more than 2% ‌in morning trading.

During a ⁠keynote ⁠address at a hockey arena with a capacity of more than 18,000, Huang is expected to lay out how the top AI chipmaker ​plans to adapt to a rapidly changing AI landscape.

Apple on Monday unveiled the second ​generation of its ​premium AirPods Max over-ear headphones at $549, ​more than five years after the first version’s launch.

The update marks Apple’s first major refresh of the ‌over-ear headphones since ⁠their ⁠2020 debut, as the company adds new features ​and improved noise cancellation to compete more aggressively in the ​premium headphones market.

Apple shares were trading 0.8% higher at $2.01.

Oil prices are down, and stocks are up Monday, though such moves have been quick to change since the war in Iran began.

The driver for markets once again was the price of oil. A barrel of benchmark U.S. crude fell 4.1% to $94.62, easing some pressure off the economy after topping $102 earlier in the morning. Brent crude, the international standard, fell 1.4% to $101.72 per barrel after earlier getting as high as $106.50.

Wall Street’s main indexes opened higher on Monday with shares of Meta among the ‌top ⁠gainers ⁠after a report said the megacap was prepping for sweeping AI-related layoffs, even as elevated crude prices ⁠due to ‌the raging Middle East conflict ⁠kept risk-taking in check.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 148.9 points, or 0.32%, at the open to 46,707.4. ‌The S&P 500 rose 42.2 points, or 0.64%, to ⁠6,674.37, while the Nasdaq Composite rose 235.0 points, or 1.06%, to 22,340.388. Read More

Oil prices fell on Monday amid ​attacks on Gulf oil production and U.S. President Donald Trump’s call for global efforts to secure the Strait of Hormuz.

Brent crude futures were down 92 cents at $102.22 a barrel by 1248 GMT while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was down $3.45, or 3.5%, to $95.26.

Both contracts have surged more than 40% this month to their highest since 2022, after the ‌U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran prompted ⁠Tehran ⁠to halt shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, a critical waterway for a fifth of global oil and LNG supplies.

The United Arab Emirates’ daily oil output is down by more than ​half as the Iran conflict and the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz forced state oil giant ADNOC to implement widespread production shut-ins, two sources told ​Reuters.

Investors were in a cautious mood on Monday as hostilities in the Gulf kept oil prices elevated, clouding an inflation outlook that ​should keep most central banks on pause at policy meetings this week.

Israel said on Monday it has detailed plans for at least three more weeks of war as its military pounded sites across Iran overnight, while Iranian drone attacks temporarily shut Dubai airport and hit a key oil facility in the United Arab Emirates.

U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday called for a coalition of nations to help reopen the vital Strait of Hormuz, ‌warning that the NATO alliance faces ⁠a “very bad” ⁠future if its members fail to come to Washington’s aid.

Gold prices dipped on Monday, pressured by concerns that surging oil costs could stoke inflation further and prompt a more hawkish policy stance by major central ‌banks including ⁠the ⁠U.S. Federal Reserve, dulling the appeal of the non-yielding asset.

Spot gold fell 0.7% to $4,983.17 per ounce, ​as of 0944 GMT. U.S. gold futures for April delivery fell 1.5% to $4,987.30. Read more

Nvidia gained 1.1%, while Micron added 4.4% following a price target hike by brokerage ⁠RBC. Tesla ‌also gained 1% after CEO Elon Musk said the company’s Terafab project to make artificial intelligence chips will launch in ​seven days.

Investors were also monitoring moves in currency markets as the Japanese yen hovered close to 160 per dollar – lowest levels since the last central bank intervention.

Keeping investors cautious ​were crude prices pinned at $100 a barrel, as shipments through the crucial Strait of Hormuz stayed mostly shut and U.S. ⁠President Donald Trump’s demands for a coalition to secure safe passage seemed to be in ​vain.

Meta gained 2.6% in premarket trading after a Reuters report said it was planning to shrink 20% or more of its workforce to offset costly artificial intelligence infrastructure bets ‌and prepare for greater ⁠efficiency brought about ⁠by AI-assisted workers.

The Instagram parent joins similar announcements made by Amazon.com and Block earlier this year.

AI is also expected to stay in the spotlight this week, with chip giant Nvidia’s annual ​developer conference scheduled later in the day, and results from Micron. Electronics giant Taiwan’s Foxconn also issued a strong quarterly revenue forecast.