US Stocks Surge as Iran Talks Spark Oil Price Volatility

The US stock market is nearing its all-time high, despite conflicting signals from Washington and Tehran about the status of negotiations on ending the Iran-US war. The S&P 500 climbed 1.5% on Monday, leaving it just shy of its closing record of 7,620.90 set on June 2. Meanwhile, Brent crude fell around 5% on Monday but rose over 1.3% in Asian trading on Tuesday.

The 'Magnificent Seven' tech giants led the rally, with Meta Platforms rising 6%, Microsoft and Amazon up between 4.4% and 4.9%, and Alphabet climbing by a similar margin. Chip giant Nvidia rose 2.9%, while electric vehicle maker Tesla jumped 3.5%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average reached a record high of 53,178.41.

However, some analysts are cautious about the sudden surge in stocks. Melissa Brown from Investment Decision Research at SimCorp said she was 'extremely surprised' by the magnitude of the rally, noting that it came against a backdrop of relatively negative sentiment without a real fundamental reason to support it.