Wall Street finished mixed on Monday as investors looked ahead to a pivotal week of earnings from the biggest technology companies while weighing the prospect that elevated oil prices could keep pressure on the Federal Reserve to maintain a hawkish stance.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 262.8 points, or 0.5%, to 52,210.1. The S&P 500 edged up 0.02% to 7,413.2, while the Nasdaq Composite slipped 43.7 points, or 0.2%, to 24,932.1.
Attention is now turning to quarterly results from Microsoft, Amazon, Meta and Apple, with investors seeking fresh evidence that artificial intelligence spending continues to generate meaningful returns.
The earnings reports come after last week's disappointing reaction to results from Tesla and Alphabet, which reignited concerns that surging AI investment may take longer to translate into stronger profits.
Energy markets also remained in focus after oil prices retreated sharply. Brent crude tumbled 8% to around US$89 a barrel, its lowest level in a week, after U.S. President Donald Trump said Washington was holding "good talks" with Iran and suggested a peace agreement remained possible.
However, Trump warned military strikes would resume if negotiations failed.
The decline in crude weighed on energy stocks, with Occidental Petroleum falling 4.1% and Exxon Mobil losing 1.4%.
Investors are also preparing for the Federal Reserve's policy decision on Wednesday. According to the CME Group FedWatch Tool, markets are pricing a 63.7% probability that policymakers will leave interest rates unchanged., with a 36.3% chance of a 25-basis-point increase.
Attention will then shift to Thursday's release of the June Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) Price Index, the Fed's preferred inflation gauge, which could influence expectations for the direction of monetary policy over the remainder of the year.
On the bond markets, 10-year and 2-year rates were down 0.7% and 0.4% at 4.647% and 4.32%, respectively.
