Stocks bounce back as Iran, Israel signal a pause

The MSCI’s global equities index recovered ‌some earlier losses with support from a bounce-back in technology, and oil futures pared gains on Monday as Iran and Israel said they ​had halted attacks on each other after an appeal from US President Donald Trump.

The dollar eased, although uncertainty remained as Tehran said it ‌would resume strikes if Israel continued to ‌hit Iran-backed Hizbollah in Lebanon. Israel had struck a petrochemical plant in southwestern Iran and Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said it retaliated with a strike aimed at a similar Israeli plant in the city of Haifa.

In energy markets, US crude futures were up 1.42% at $91.83 a barrel after earlier trading above $95 a ‌barrel, while Brent was at $94.78 per barrel, up 1.82% on the day, after earlier rising above $98 a barrel.

Wall Street indexes staged a comeback as investors looked for bargains after Friday’s selloff when the heavyweight technology sector put pressure on the entire market. The sector suffered its largest daily decline since April 2025 after a hot May jobs report fueled fears the US Federal Reserve would need to raise interest rates.

Picture used for illustrative purpose only.

“The profit takers did their work on Friday,” said Bruce Zaro, managing director at Granite Wealth Management in Plymouth, Massachusetts. “New buyers have come in and said, that was overdone.” Aside from worrying about geopolitics and interest rates, Zaro said that investors were also preparing for this week’s hotly anticipated SpaceX IPO and reacting to tweaks to membership of the S&P ​500. The index is adding Marvell Technology, helping to boost the chip sector, which sold off sharply on Friday. The S&P 500 ‌technology index was up 2.3% on Monday after tumbling 5.8% on Friday. On Wall Street at 10:53 a.m. ET (1453 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 153.76 points, or 0.30%, to 51,020.54, the S&P 500 rose 71.63 points, or 0.97%, to 7,455.37 and the Nasdaq Composite rose 414.23 points, or 1.61%, to 26,123.66.

MSCI’s gauge of stocks across the globe rose 0.70 points, or 0.06%, to 1,106.50 while the pan-European STOXX 600 index fell 0.06%. The decline in equity markets was stark earlier in Asia, with South Korea’s chip-heavy KOSPI, the world’s best-performing market this year, leading losses with an 8.3% slide that has the benchmark down over 16% from last ​week’s record high. Japan’s ‌Nikkei fell almost 4%, with market darlings across the computer-chip production supply chain falling furthest, while Taiwan’s benchmark sank 3.5%. In currencies, the dollar retreated ‌from its highest level in nearly two months as the halt of Iranian and Israeli attacks reduced safe haven demand. The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies including the yen and the euro, fell 0.12% to 99.96, with the euro up 0.16% at $1.1538.

Against the Japanese yen, the dollar weakened 0.12% to ‌160.09. In cryptocurrencies, bitcoin gained ‌3.27% to $63,891.25. Last week it notched its heaviest weekly drop since the collapse of crypto exchange FTX in late 2022, falling about 16%. In government bonds, US Treasury yields were mixed with two-year yields ‌pulling back from a 15-month high reached on Friday after the stronger-than-expected May jobs report.

In energy markets, US crude futures were up 1.42% at $91.83 a barrel after earlier trading above $95 a ‌barrel, while Brent was at $94.78 per barrel, up 1.82% on the day, after earlier rising above $98 a barrel. File/Reuters

The yield on benchmark US 10-year notes rose 1.6 basis points to 4.552%, from 4.536% late on Friday, while the 30-year bond yield rose 2 basis points to 5.019%. The 2-year note yield, which typically moves in step with interest rate expectations for the Federal Reserve, fell 0.2 basis points to ​4.16%, from 4.162% late on Friday. In precious metals, gold steadied as hopes for a potential Israel-Iran ceasefire helped it bounce from session lows, but worries about a Fed rate hike limited the upside.

Spot gold was last up slightly at $4,331.38 an ounce.

Copper prices rose on Monday as stocks in London Metal Exchange approved warehouses fell, with the market looking ahead ‌to a US decision at the end of June on import tariffs ​on the metal.

Benchmark copper on the LME traded 1.1% higher ‌at $13,665 a metric tone ‌in official rings.

Industry sources said traders and funds are still taking copper from the LME to the US before any import levies are imposed, which ‌would significantly raise shipping costs.

The US has flagged the possibility of 15% levies on copper imports from the start of 2027 and 30% from the start of 2028.

Stocks of copper , at 376,775, have dropped 6% over the past month. Cancelled warrants or metal earmarked for delivery at around 39% indicate another 145,800 is due to leave the LME system.

Lower LME inventories ​have also narrowed the discount for the cash copper contract over ‌the three-month forward.

Agencies