NEW YORK, New York - U.S. stocks traded mostly lower on Monday as shares in SpaceX continued to fall, while Meta parent Alphabet also took a dive. The Dow Jones industrials however, eked out a small gain. Conflicting signals on the U.S.-Iran negotiations to end the war in the Gulf continued to unsettle markets, however the overall tenor remained favourable, with oil prices in a sharp retreat.

"If you look at who's got the most wherewithal and transparency and earnings, it's still the U.S. for right now, given the fact that we're not concluding that Middle East conflict, given the fact that oil flows aren't fully back to normal yet and given the fact that the U.S. still has its own energy supplies," Tom Hainlin, U.S. Bank Asset Management Group's national investment strategist, told CNBC Monday.

"As long as consumers are making money and confident in their jobs, they want to spend, and as long as businesses think the economy is in good shape and are expanding for the future, that's still a pretty good setup," he said.

The Standard and Poor's 500 fell 27.60 points to settle at 7,472.98, a decline of 0.37 percent, snapping a recent string of record highs. The broad-based index traded within a session range of 7,460.01 on the low end and 7,530.01 at its peak, as concerns over rising bond yields weighed on equity valuations. Trading volume on the index reached 3.501 billion shares.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average, by contrast, bucked the broader trend and closed higher. The blue-chip index rose 147.83 points to finish at 51,712.53, a gain of 0.29 percent. The Dow traded between 51,555.19 and 51,887.85 during the session, with 503.725 million shares changing hands. The index's relative strength was bolstered by gains in financials and industrials, which offset weakness in technology components.

The NASDAQ Composite bore the brunt of Monday's selling pressure, plunging 351.33 points to end the day at 26,166.60, a steep decline of 1.32 percent. The tech-heavy index was weighed down by sharp losses in mega-cap growth stocks, as rising Treasury yields continued to pressure high-valuation names. Trading volume on the Nasdaq totaled 10.629 billion shares.

SpaceX ended up diving $30.04 or 16.24 percent to $154.60.

U.S. Dollar Mixed on Monday; Euro Leads Gains; Yen Weakens Past 161 Mark

The U.S. dollar traded in a mixed fashion on Monday, with the euro posting the strongest advance among major currencies while the Japanese yen continued its slide past the 161 level, as traders digested diverging central bank policy signals and resilient U.S. economic data.

The euro strengthened solidly against the greenback, with the EUR-USD pair climbing to 1.1419, a gain of 0.45 percent. The move came as European Central Bank officials maintained a hawkish tone, even as markets priced in expectations for eventual rate cuts later in the year.

The British pound edged marginally higher, with GBP-USD trading at 1.3243, up 0.08 percent. Sterling found some support from better-than-expected U.K. services sector data, though gains were capped by ongoing uncertainty around the domestic political outlook following Keir Starmer's announcement that he is stepping down as prime minister.

In Asia, the Japanese yen weakened further, with the USD-JPY pair rising to 161.68, an increase of 0.24 percent. The yen's continued decline kept traders on alert for possible intervention from Japanese authorities, as the currency remains near multi-decade lows against the dollar.

Commodity-linked currencies saw modest advances. The Australian dollar rose against its U.S. counterpart, with AUD-USD climbing to 0.6996, a gain of 0.23 percent, supported by a generally risk-on tone in Asian equity markets.

The Canadian dollar also edged higher, as USD-CAD slipped to 1.4166, a decline of 0.09 percent for the greenback, helped by steady oil prices.

Global Markets Close Mixed on Monday as Tech Gains Offset European Weakness

Global stock markets delivered a mixed performance on Monday, with Asian exchanges posting solid gains while European indices were somewhat mixed but notionally positive, as investors weighed ongoing inflation concerns against robust corporate earnings.

Canadian equities posted a positive session. The S&P/TSX Composite index advanced 144.84 points to close at 35,002.18, a gain of 0.42 percent, with energy and financial sectors leading the charge. Volume on the TSX reached 277.564 million shares.

The FTSE 100 in London managed to edge higher, closing at 10,437.85, a gain of 74.58 points, or 0.72 percent, despite the resignation of UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer. 

In Europe, Germany's DAX also advanced, finishing at 25,139.69, up 153.87 points, or 0.62 percent. However, the mood was less upbeat in France, where the CAC 40 slipped 21.03 points to settle at 8,400.11, a decline of 0.25 percent.

The broader EURO STOXX 50 index eked out a modest gain, rising 18.19 points to 6,311.32, or 0.29 percent, while the Euronext 100 Index closed virtually flat, down just 0.86 points at 1,925.87, a fractional loss of 0.04 percent.

In Belgium, the BEL 20 was a standout performer, surging 58.18 points to 5,705.83, a jump of 1.03 percent.

Asian markets were mostly higher, led by a powerful rally in Taipei.

The TWSE Capitalization Weighted Stock Index surged 1,276.31 points to close at 47,741.51, an eye-popping gain of 2.75 percent.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 also had a strong session, adding 1,103.90 points to finish at 72,353.96, or 1.55 percent higher.

In China, the SSE Composite Index rose 72.62 points to 4,163.10, a gain of 1.78 percent.

South Korea's KOSPI Composite Index advanced 62.13 points to 9,114.55, up 0.69 percent, while in India, the S&P BSE SENSEX climbed 291.17 points to settle at 77,094.07, an increase of 0.38 percent.

Elsewhere in the Asia-Pacific, results were more subdued.

Hong Kong's HANG SENG INDEX fell 156.29 points to 23,768.52, a drop of 0.65 percent. In Singapore, the STI Index managed a slight gain, rising 11.31 points to 5,204.01, or 0.22 percent.

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 declined 12.60 points to 8,816.10, down 0.14 percent, while the broader ALL ORDINARIES lost 16.10 points to 9,031.20, a dip of 0.18 percent.

Malaysia's FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI dropped 11.19 points to 1,700.84, a 0.65 percent loss, and New Zealand's S&P/NZX 50 INDEX shed 49.58 points to close at 13,446.05, falling 0.37 percent.

In Indonesia, the IDX COMPOSITE was among the day's bigger losers, tumbling 60.45 points to 6,116.69, a decline of 0.98 percent.

Middle Eastern and African markets also leaned negative. Israel's TA-125 fell 14.37 points to 4,067.15, off 0.35 percent, while Egypt's EGX 30 Price Return Index dropped 93.70 points to 52,585.70, a 0.18 percent decline on volume of 349.269 million.

In Africa, the Top 40 USD Net TRI Index in South Africa bucked the regional trend, gaining 39.81 points to close at 6,851.64, an increase of 0.58 percent.

(This report incorporates quotes retrieved with the assistance of artificial intelligence).

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