US stocks rebound on Monday as oil slides sharply on Iran diplomacy hopes, recovering part of Friday's tech sell-off
US stocks rose on Monday, with the Dow up about 490 to 547 points intraday and the S&P 500 and Nasdaq also higher, as Brent crude fell about 6 per cent on hopes of progress in talks over Iran.
United States stocks rebounded on Monday, recovering part of last week's sharp technology-led sell-off, as a steep fall in oil prices on hopes of progress in diplomacy over Iran lifted investor confidence ahead of a busy week of earnings and the midterm elections. Figures checked on Monday afternoon, 2 November 2026 (Pakistan time). In intraday trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose by about 490 to 547 points, the S&P 500 climbed about 0.6 to 0.8 per cent, and the Nasdaq Composite gained about 0.8 to 1 per cent, with the Dow trading around 52,260 and the S&P 500 around 7,629 in the afternoon session. These were trading-session readings, not closing results, and they moved during the day, so the size of the rebound should be read as a snapshot of a market still in motion rather than a final verdict. The recovery followed a bruising end to October. On Friday, the Dow fell 572.25 points, or 1.09 per cent, to 51,770.31, the S&P 500 dropped 140.32 points, or 1.82 per cent, to 7,580.07, and the Nasdaq Composite closed 747.73 points, or 2.86 per cent, lower at 25,437.00, its worst day since June. The Nasdaq ended October with a 5.3 per cent monthly loss, its steepest monthly decline since March 2025, as investors questioned whether the hundreds of billions of dollars being spent on artificial intelligence would earn their expected returns. Oil was the main driver of Monday's change in mood. Brent crude, the international standard, fell about 6 per cent to around $105.87 to $106.59 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate crude dropped about 6.4 per cent to around $97.45 a barrel, slipping back below $100. The slide came as Iranian and Qatari officials held a third consecutive day of talks on ending the US-Israeli war on Iran, and as Iran's president said the supreme leader had granted the government powers to pursue peace talks, boosting expectations of a diplomatic breakthrough. That extended the more than 4 per cent oil fall reported earlier on Monday, taking the decline deeper as the New York session progressed. Technology shares, the leaders of Friday's sell-off, led much of the rebound. Alphabet rose 2.4 per cent on Monday, recovering some of its drop of more than 12 per cent from Thursday, which was its worst in history, while Nvidia rose about 1.9 per cent after its 4.2 per cent slide on Friday, and Amazon and Tesla each gained more than 2 per cent. Not every beaten-down name recovered, however: Intel, whose shares had plunged 28.58 per cent on Friday on weak guidance, and CoreWeave extended last week's losses, a reminder that the selling had company-specific causes as well as a market-wide one. Companies with large fuel bills were among the clearest beneficiaries of cheaper oil. United Airlines flew 6.5 per cent higher, Southwest Airlines climbed 4.2 per cent, and cruise operator Carnival rose 4.6 per cent, while the NYSE Arca Airline Index soared 6.6 per cent. Gold also gained, rising about 2 per cent to around $3,958.50 an ounce, helped by falling oil prices easing fears of further inflation pressure, a softer dollar, lower Treasury yields and bargain buying after Friday's sell-off. The rebound arrives at the start of what traders expect to be a decisive week. Apple and Palantir were due to report earnings after Monday's closing bell, AMD was scheduled for Tuesday, and roughly a fifth of S&P 500 companies were set to report during the week. Voters go to the polls on Tuesday in the US midterm elections, which will decide control of Congress, and the October jobs report is due on Friday, giving investors a run of events that could quickly change the mood again. Analysts urged caution about reading too much into one session. The rebound came as traders bought stocks at reduced levels after the recent sell-off, and the Nasdaq had fallen to a three-month closing low on Friday while the S&P 500 slipped to its lowest closing level in well over a month. The fundamental concern behind the selling, the scale and payoff of AI spending, has not gone away, and hedge funds sold technology shares at one of the fastest rates in a decade last month, according to Goldman Sachs prime brokerage data cited in market coverage. The VIX, Wall Street's fear gauge, eased to about 19.1, calmer but not complacent. For readers following the day's markets, Monday's story is therefore best understood as two linked moves rather than one: a diplomatic hope that pulled oil sharply lower, and a relief bounce in stocks that had fallen hard. Whether the bounce holds will depend on the earnings reports, the election result and the jobs data ahead, and on whether the Iran talks produce a real agreement or stall. A fresh tanker attack or a breakdown in the Doha talks could send oil sharply higher again and put the market's fragile recovery back under pressure. This post is market news information only, not financial advice.Advertisement · Google AdSense 728×90 / 320×100
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