Wall Street Closes Higher as S&P 500 Earnings Growth Hits 28.6% and Brent Crude Hovers Near $105

Mumbai: US equity markets ended Monday’s session in positive territory, even as sentiment was tempered by deteriorating peace talks between the United States and Iran. Strong corporate earnings kept investors broadly optimistic despite geopolitical headwinds.

President Donald Trump described ceasefire negotiations with Iran as “unbelievably weak” after earlier rejecting Iran’s peace proposal as unacceptable. Brent Crude oil futures hovered near $105 per barrel amid the heightened tensions.

Earnings Drive the Optimism

As of Friday, analysts estimated year-on-year earnings growth for S&P 500 companies in the March quarter at 28.6%, according to Reuters a figure strong enough to keep institutional confidence intact.

“If we get weakness after this really strong recovery from the March lows, I would see it as a buying opportunity, because this is a market that is being fuelled by corporate profits, by capex, and frankly by a strong labour market,” said Marci McGregor, Head of Portfolio Strategy at the Chief Investment Office of Merrill and Bank of America Private Bank, in an interview with CNBC.

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Sectoral Moves

Technology stocks continued their upward momentum. From the NASDAQ Composite, Micron Technology closed over 6% higher, while shares of Nvidia, Tesla, and Intel gained between 2% and 4%. Six of the 11 sectors in the S&P 500 ended the session in positive territory.

The S&P 500 Energy index led sectoral gains, closing 2.6% higher. On the other end, S&P Communication Services fell 2.63%. Airline stocks also came under pressure, with shares of Southwest Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Alaska Air, and United Airlines declining between 3.0% and 4.4%.