Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange at the NYSE on Wall Street on Monday in New York City. Oil prices rose after President Donald Trump rejected Iran's latest proposal to end the war. UPI-Yonhap
NEW YORK — Wall Street was modestly higher on Monday, with the earnings-driven fervor of the recent rally easing as stalled U.S.-Iran peace negotiations and the ongoing closure of the Strait of Hormuz drove crude prices higher and exacerbated inflation worries.
Even so, artificial intelligence-related momentum continued unabated, with chipmakers handily outperforming the broader market.
All three major U.S. stock indexes were higher and the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq bound for the latest in a series of all-time closing highs.
Semiconductors handily outshone other sectors, with the PHLX Semiconductor index jumping 2.5 percent, suggesting the AI wave is showing few signs of abating.
"The semis and AI infrastructure trade has taken on a life entirely of its own," said Ross Mayfield investment strategy analyst at Baird in Louisville, Kentucky. "And there's so much momentum and chasing to get in on some of these names that it seems almost somewhat divorced from any sort of like headline or announcement."
First-quarter reporting period is on the home stretch, with 440 of the companies in the S&P 500 having reported. Of those, 83 percent have topped earnings expectations, according to LSEG IBES.
As of Friday, analysts estimated first-quarter S&P 500 earnings growth, on aggregate, of 28.6 percent year-on-year. That's nearly double the 14.4 percent first-quarter growth estimates as of April 1.
But as earnings season nears the finish line, focus returns to macroeconomics and geopolitical developments.
President Donald Trump dismissed Iran's response to a U.S. peace proposal, causing crude prices to spike and stoking concerns that a prolonged conflict will keep putting upward pressure on inflation, particularly at the gasoline pump, where consumers are feeling the pinch.
Source: Korea Times News
