Wall Street climbs on hopes for Middle East calm, still heads to monthly loss

Wall Street’s main indices rose on Tuesday as markets awaited a report suggesting a potential de-escalation in the Middle East conflict, which had pushed the S&P 500 and Dow Jones toward their largest monthly declines in years.

The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday that US President Donald Trump told aides he is willing to end the military campaign against Iran even if the Strait of Hormuz remains largely closed, helping ease some investor concerns.

The month-long conflict has weighed on global markets, putting the S&P 500 and Dow Jones on track for their biggest monthly decline since September 2022, while the S&P 500 is also heading for its worst quarterly performance since the same year.

Although oil prices were volatile on Tuesday, they are still heading for record monthly gains. The S&P 500 energy sector has risen more than 11% so far in March, making it the only sector expected to close the month in positive territory, and marking its largest quarterly gain on record.

Mark Malek, Chief Investment Officer at Siebert Financial, said: “Market moves reflect what traders want to see and hear, and they want to hear that a resolution will come quickly.” He added that rising oil prices due to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz will ultimately “damage the economy.”

Meanwhile, the S&P 500 technology sector rose 2% after a sell-off earlier this quarter, driven by concerns over heavy capital spending plans and the impact of AI-driven innovation on software services. Shares of specific companies also gained, with CoreWeave rising 8.4% after securing an $8.5 billion loan to expand AI infrastructure.

Marvell Technology shares climbed 6.8% after a $2 billion investment from Nvidia. Meta shares rose 3.9% and Alphabet gained 2.5%, pushing the communication services sector up 2.2%.

Nine of the 11 major S&P 500 sectors advanced during the session. As of 10:05 AM ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 627.92 points, or 1.39%, to 45,844.06, while the S&P 500 gained 103.78 points, or 1.64%, to 6,447.50, and the Nasdaq Composite climbed 432.71 points, or 2.08%, to 21,227.35.

Data from the February job openings report showed vacancies declined to 6.882 million, slightly below market expectations of 6.918 million, while the consumer confidence index came in above forecasts. Markets are also awaiting comments from Federal Reserve policymakers, including Austan Goolsbee and Michelle Bowman, for signals on the future path of monetary policy.

Since the start of the conflict, rising oil prices have renewed inflation concerns, leading market participants to rule out any potential easing by the Federal Reserve this year, compared with expectations of two rate cuts before the war, according to the CME FedWatch tool.

Among other stocks, McCormick shares fell 6%, while Unilever agreed to spin off its food unit and merge it with McCormick in a cash-and-stock deal valued at about $44.8 billion. Constellation Energy shares dropped 7.1% after forecasting 2026 earnings below Wall Street expectations.

On the New York Stock Exchange, advancing stocks outnumbered decliners by a ratio of 5.23 to 1, while the ratio was 4.21 to 1 on Nasdaq. The S&P 500 recorded three new 52-week highs and three new lows, while the Nasdaq Composite posted 19 new highs and 85 new lows.