US Stocks Start Week Higher
2026-03-23 20:00
By
Felipe Alarcon
1 min. read
The S&P 500 rose 1.2%, the Nasdaq Composite gained 1.5%, and the Dow climbed 1.2% on Monday as a sharp de-escalation of Middle Eastern tensions triggered a broad return to risk assets.
President Trump announced a five-day suspension of military strikes on Iranian infrastructure, a pivot toward diplomacy that neutralized the immediate threat of a regional energy war.
While the previous weeks were dominated by stagflationary fears, the news prompted a collapse in global crude benchmarks, providing a massive tailwind for airline stocks like United Airlines (4.5%) and easing the cost of industrial production.
Technology heavyweights received a necessary respite with Nvidia and Apple rising 1.6% and 1.5%, while cyclical sectors including industrials and financials saw Caterpillar and Morgan Stanley climb 3.1% and 1.9%.
Although Iranian state media denied direct communications, the market responded to the administration's clear intent to stabilize global trade routes.