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US Stock Market Highlights: US stocks ended Monday with mixed results as a sell-off in chip stocks weighed on major indexes, while crude oil surged above $100 for the first time since 2022. Investors approached the start of a holiday-shortened week cautiously, awaiting fresh economic data amid lingering consumer uncertainty.The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) eked out a 0.1% gain, while the S&P 500 (^GSPC) dropped 0.4%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) fell 0.9%, dragged lower by semiconductor names including Micron (MU) and SanDisk (SNDK).Oil price pressures intensified with West Texas Intermediate settling at $102.88 per barrel and Brent crude above $112.78, driven by the Iran conflict and supply concerns around the Strait of Hormuz.Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said inflation expectations remain “well anchored beyond the short term” despite rising energy costs, noting that the central bank could face policy questions in the future but isn’t confronting them yet.Treasury yields responded, with the 10-year slipping over 9 basis points to 4.344%.

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Shares of Micron continued their steep decline on Monday, dropping about 10% in late trading and leaving the stock barely in positive territory for the year, after soaring more than 60% by mid-March. Over the past eight sessions, Micron has lost more than 30% of its value.

The sell-off accelerated after an initially strong earnings report and was further fueled by Google’s breakthrough, which traders fear could reduce demand for memory chips. Other memory-related stocks, including Sandisk and Western Digital, also fell sharply, each down over 9%.

Traders are closely watching oil prices to gauge the market’s next moves.

“You can’t take your eyes off of oil,” Joseph Terranova, senior managing director at Virtus Investment Partners, said Monday on CNBC’s Halftime Report. Karen Firestone, co-founder of Aureus Asset Management, warned that oil reaching $120 per barrel could trigger a recession, potentially hurting corporate earnings and weighing on stocks.

Brent crude May futures edged higher on Monday, trading above $112 per barrel and on track for the largest monthly gain since the benchmark’s inception in 1988.

“It’s unlikely that the stock market … can rally sustainably unless we have a resolution,” Firestone added. Sarat Sethi, managing director at Douglas C. Lane & Associates, also noted that sustained high oil prices could impact corporate earnings.The VanEck Semiconductor ETF slipped another 2.8% in late Monday trading, bringing its total monthly decline to 10.6%. If the drop holds through Tuesday, it would mark the ETF’s worst month since December 2022, when it fell nearly 10.9%.Among major chipmakers, Nvidia fell about 1%, while Advanced Micro Devices and Broadcom both declined roughly 3%.Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said on Monday that interest rates are in a “good place” to address the oil shock caused by the Iran conflict, emphasising the central bank’s “wait-and-see” approach. Speaking at a Harvard University event, Powell also noted that he sees no risk of private credit “contagion.”Following his comments, traders scaled back expectations for a Fed rate hike at the April meeting, with the probability dropping from 6.2% a week ago to 2.6% on Monday.

Nine S&P 500 names touched fresh all-time highs on Monday, led by a strong run in energy and industrial plays, even as a separate set of stocks slipped to multi-month or longer-term lows. Among the standout gainers, Sempra Energy climbed to record levels for the first time since its formation in 1998, while EOG Resources hit highs dating back to its 1999 listing. Oil majors ExxonMobil and Chevron also traded at historic peaks, alongside refiners Phillips 66, Valero Energy, and Marathon Petroleum. Fertiliser producer CF Industries and agriscience firm Corteva rounded out the list. On the other end of the spectrum, seven stocks sank to 52-week or deeper lows, reflecting pockets of weakness across healthcare, consumer, and industrial segments. These included Boston Scientific, Insulet, and Baxter International, along with Domino’s Pizza, Builders FirstSource, Otis Worldwide, and TransDigm.

Institutional appetite for bitcoin had softened last week, with exchange-traded funds recording their first net outflows in over a month as geopolitical tensions pushed investors into risk-off mode. After a sustained stretch of inflows, bitcoin ETFs collectively saw $296.18 million in net outflows for the week ending Friday, which was the first negative reading since February 20. The pullback coincided with a broader cooling in institutional participation, including a pause in bitcoin accumulation by major corporate buyers such as Strategy. Bitcoin prices also came under pressure, slipping around 4% over the past week to trade near $67,800.

Markets swiftly recalibrated expectations after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell indicated there is little urgency for further tightening, effectively taking a 2026 rate hike off the table. According to CME Group’s FedWatch tool, the probability of an additional rate increase this year has dropped to just 5.5%, a sharp fall from over 50% as recently as Friday. Speaking at Harvard, Powell struck a measured tone, noting that monetary policy is already in a good place given current economic conditions. He also pushed back against the idea that further rate hikes would meaningfully address elevated fuel costs, warning instead that additional tightening at this stage could risk unnecessary damage to the broader economy. The remarks strengthen a growing consensus that the Fed is likely to stay on hold, with markets now shifting focus toward the timing of eventual rate cuts rather than further hikes.

Bond yields declined on Monday after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell signalled that inflation expectations remain “well anchored,” helping ease concerns triggered by the recent surge in oil prices. The 2-year Treasury yield fell about 10 basis points to 3.83%, while the 5-year dropped to 3.97% and the benchmark 10-year yield slipped to around 4.33%. Powell’s remarks soothed market nerves as crude prices have climbed above $100 per barrel since the Iran conflict began in late February. Speaking at Harvard, he noted that energy shocks tend to be short-lived and cautioned that the delayed impact of monetary tightening could weigh on the economy after such price spikes have already faded.Institutional demand for bitcoin weakened last week as rising geopolitical tensions triggered a broader risk-off sentiment among investors. After weeks of steady inflows, bitcoin ETFs recorded net outflows of $296.18 million for the week—marking their first negative week since February 20. Meanwhile, bitcoin prices slipped around 4% over the same period, hovering near $67,800.Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell reiterated the central bank’s commitment to bringing inflation back to its 2% target on a sustained basis, while noting that policy is currently well-positioned to wait and assess how evolving conditions unfold. He said developments in the Middle East could push up gas prices, adding that while the Fed typically looks through supply shocks, it remains alert to any shift in inflation expectations. Powell also acknowledged uncertainty over the economic impact of the current situation but stressed that inflation expectations remain broadly anchored.Shares of Nvidia hovered near bear market territory on Monday, slipping about 0.5% after briefly trading higher at the open.The stock is now at levels not seen since mid-July and has fallen more than 21% from its all-time intraday high on October 29. From its closing peak on the same day, Nvidia is down just over 19%.Alaska Air Group shares fell about 8% in early trading on Monday after the airline warned that rising fuel costs would deepen its first-quarter losses.In a regulatory filing, the company said refining margins on fuel sourced from Singapore—its lowest-cost supply—have surged nearly 400% since early February, increasing from about $0.45 to roughly $2.25 per gallon.As a result, Alaska Air expects at least a $0.70 hit to earnings per share. The airline now forecasts an adjusted first-quarter loss in the range of $1.50 to $2 per share.

US stocks opened in positive territory on Monday, with Wall Street kicking off a holiday-shortened week on a firm note.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) led early gains, rising about 1%. The S&P 500 (^GSPC) advanced around 0.8%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) was up about 0.6%.US President Donald Trump said there has been progress in ongoing discussions with Iran, even as he issued a stark warning that Washington could target the country’s energy infrastructure if an agreement is not reached quickly.“The United States of America is in serious discussions with A NEW, AND MORE REASONABLE, REGIME to end our Military Operations in Iran. Great progress has been made but, if for any reason a deal is not shortly reached, which it probably will be, and if the Hormuz Strait is not immediately ‘Open for Business,’ we will conclude our lovely ‘stay’ in Iran by blowing up and completely obliterating all of their Electric Generating Plants, Oil Wells and Kharg Island (and possibly all desalinization plants!), which we have purposefully not yet ‘touched,’” he wrote in a Truth Social post.“This will be in retribution for our many soldiers, and others, that Iran has butchered and killed over the old Regime’s 47 year ‘Reign of Terror,’” he added.Oil prices climbed Monday as escalating West Asia tensions, after Houthi missile strikes and fresh rhetoric from US President Donald Trump, stoked fears over energy supply risks. Brent crude rose 2.5% to $115.45 a barrel, while WTI gained 1.5% to $101.17, with Brent up over 55% in March and on track for a record monthly surge.Aluminium prices surged on Monday amid fears of supply disruptions after Iranian strikes hit key production facilities in West Asia over the weekend, raising concerns over tighter availability and logistical bottlenecks.Three-month aluminium on the London Metal Exchange climbed 3.85% to $3,420 per metric ton, hovering near a four-year high after earlier touching $3,492.Mining stocks rallied in response, with Alcoa shares jumping 10% and Century Aluminum gaining 11% in premarket trade.

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