Stocks moved sharply lower in early trading on Monday but showed a substantial turnaround over the course of the session. The major averages climbed well off their worst levels and into positive territory, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq leading the recovery.
The major averages surged in the final hour of trading, closing not far off their highs. The Nasdaq jumped 308.27 points or 1.4 percent to 22,695.95, the S&P 500 advanced 55.96 points or 0.8 percent to 6,795.99 and the Dow climbed 239.25 points or 0.5 percent to 47,740.80.
Early in the session, the Dow tumbled by as much as 1.9 percent and the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 both slumped by as much as 1.5 percent, hitting their worst intraday levels in over three months.
The late-day rally on Wall Street came after President Donald Trump purportedly told a CBS News reporter the U.S. war with Iran could be over soon.
In a post on X, CBS News’ Senior White House Correspondent Weijia Jiang said Trump told her, “I think the war is very complete, pretty much. They have no navy, no communications, they’ve got no Air Force.”
Trump also said that the U.S. is “very far” ahead of his initial four to five week estimated time frame, according to Jiang.
In a separate post, Jiang said Trump told her that he is thinking about taking over the Strait of Hormuz, resulting in a nosedive by the price of crude oil.
An extended surge by the price of crude oil contributed to the early weakness on Wall Street, with crude spiking above $100 a barrel for the first time since 2022 and reaching a high of nearly $120 a barrel.
The continued increase came following reports major oil producers Iraq, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates are cutting production.
With the Strait of Hormuz effectively closed due to Iranian threats against tankers, the countries are said to be running out of storage space.
Sector News
Semiconductor stocks helped lead the turnaround on Wall Street, with the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index spiking by 3.9 percent after tumbling by as much as 2 percent to a two-month intraday low.
Computer hardware, networking and biotechnology stocks also moved sharply higher over the course of the session, contributing to the jump by the tech-heavy Nasdaq.
Airline stocks also showed a substantial rebound, driving the NYSE Arca Airline Index up by 1.8 percent. The index plummeted by as much as 6.2 percent to its lowest intraday level in over three months in early trading.
Oil service and healthcare stocks also moved to the upside on the day, while some weakness remained visible among telecom stocks.
Other Markets
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved sharply lower during trading on Monday. Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index plummeted by 5.2 percent, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index tumbled by 1.4 percent.
The major European markets also moved to the downside on the day. The French CAC 40 Index slumped by 1.0 percent, the German DAX Index slid by 0.8 percent and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index fell by 0.3 percent.
In the bond market, treasuries recovered from early weakness to end the day roughly flat. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, crept up by less than a basis point to 4.136 percent after reaching a high of 4.177 percent.
Business News
U.S. Stocks Recover From Early Sell-Off As Trump Says Iran War Could Be Over Soon
2026-03-09 20:19:24
