NEW YORK, New York - U.S. stocks kicked off the trading week with a powerful rally on Monday, powered by a tech-sector surge that lifted all three major indexes to solid gains. The rally came as U.S. President Donald Trump called off an escalation of military attacks in Iran and said talks had resumed with Tehran over a negotiated end to the war. The U.S. dollar climbed higher while bond yields fell.

The NASDAQ Composite led the charge, soaring 540.04 points to close at 25,913.90, an impressive gain of 2.13 percent. The tech-heavy index benefited from renewed appetite for growth and artificial intelligence-linked names, extending its recent outperformance.

The broad-based Standard and Poor's 500 also finished firmly in the green, climbing 110.77 points to settle at 7,600.49, a rise of 1.48 percent. Trading volume on the index reached 3.031 billion shares, reflecting strong participation as investors piled back into equities.

Blue-chip stocks were not left behind, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average advancing 693.38 points to close at 53,178.41, an increase of 1.32 percent. The Dow's gains were supported by a broad cross-section of industrial and financial names, with trading volume hitting 583.599 million shares.

"We're seeing a classic risk-on move today," Michael Torres, chief market strategist at Pinnacle Wealth Management said Monday. "The NASDAQ's outperformance tells you this is about growth and technology, but the fact that the Dow and S&P are also participating shows this rally has breadth."

All three U.S. indexes traded near their session highs in the final hour, with the S&P 500 touching an intraday peak of 7,610.04 and the Dow reaching 53,230.08 before paring slight gains at the close. The NASDAQ also finished near the top of its daily range.

U.S. Dollar Strengthens Broadly on Monday but Slips Against Yen 

The U.S. dollar traded Monday's foreign exchange session on a firm footing, gaining ground against most major currencies in a show of resilience, though it stumbled against the Japanese yen as traders continued to assess diverging monetary policy paths.

The greenback advanced against its European counterpart, with the euro falling 0.12 percent to settle at 1.1513 against the dollar.

The British pound also weakened, dropping 0.38 percent to close at 1.3432, marking the session's sharpest decline among the major pairs.

The Australian dollar lost 0.27 percent to finish at 0.7000, slipping below the psychologically important parity level.

Against the Canadian dollar, the U.S. currency posted its sole gain among the North American pairs, with USD-CAD rising 0.16 percent to end the day around 1.4043, as oil prices provided little support for the loonie.

The one notable exception to the dollar's broad strength came against the Japanese yen. The USD-JPY pair fell 0.32 percent to close at 156.89, as the yen benefited from the joint Japanese-U.S. intervention, that commenced on Friday.

"Today's moves reflect a classic risk-off tone, with the dollar generally benefiting from its reserve currency status, but the yen's strength tells a different story—it's being driven more by domestic policy dynamics and carry-trade unwinding than by the broader dollar narrative," Emily Chen, senior FX strategist at Horizon Global Markets said Monday.

The mixed session leaves traders looking ahead to U.S. inflation data and Federal Reserve commentary later in the week, which could provide fresh impetus for the dollar's next directional move.

Global Markets Close Mixed Monday as European Gains Offset Asian Losses in Volatile Monday Session

Global stock markets delivered a split decision on Monday, with major European indexes posting solid gains while Asian benchmarks struggled, as investors weighed interest rate expectations and regional economic data.

In Europe, the DAX P in Frankfurt led the charge, climbing 372.07 points to close at 26,001.31, an increase of 1.45 percent. France's CAC 40 also finished firmly in the green, rising 104.18 points to 8,613.82, a gain of 1.22 percent. The broader EURO STOXX 50 I advanced 68.49 points to settle at 6,426.50, up 1.08 percent, while the Euronext 100 Index added 13.44 points to 1,939.23, a rise of 0.70 percent.

.The FTSE 100 in London bucked the trend, slipping 10.35 points to close at 10,857.70, a decline of 0.10 percent. Belgium's BEL 20 also fell, dropping 18.54 points to 5,667.28, down 0.33 percent.

Canada's S&P/TSX Composite index fell 279.66 points to end the session at 35,226.14, a decline of 0.79 percent. The index, which is heavily weighted toward energy and materials sectors, struggled as commodity prices came under pressure. Trading volume on the TSX totaled 323.16 million shares.

Asian markets painted a more cautious picture. Japan's Nikkei 225 tumbled 607.12 points to finish at 63,754.90, a loss of 0.94 percent. South Korea's KOSPI Composite Index suffered the session's steepest percentage drop, plunging 338.00 points to 6,257.45, a sharp decline of 5.12 percent.

Elsewhere in Asia, China's SSE Composite Index gave up 22.60 points to settle at 3,809.66, a drop of 0.59 percent. Israel's TA-125 fell 39.36 points to 4,032.40, down 0.97 percent, and Egypt's EGX 30 Price Return Index lost 191.60 points to end at 54,094.30, a decline of 0.35 percent.

On a more positive note, Hong Kong's HANG SENG INDEX rose 124.97 points to 26,009.40, a gain of 0.48 percent, while Australia's S&P/ASX 200 advanced 42.50 points to 9,019.30, up 0.47 percent. The broader ALL ORDINARIES added 41.40 points to close at 9,178.40, an increase of 0.45 percent.

India's S&P BSE SENSEX posted a solid rally, climbing 544.39 points to finish at 78,639.03, a gain of 0.70 percent. Malaysia's FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI eked out a slight increase of 0.83 points to 1,725.73, up 0.05 percent, and New Zealand's S&P/NZX 50 INDEX GROSS rose 75.65 points to 13,774.93, a gain of 0.55 percent.

Singapore's STI Index eased 16.22 points to 5,612.28, down 0.29 percent, while Indonesia's IDX COMPOSITE slipped 1.63 points to 6,234.50, a fractional loss of 0.03 percent. Taiwan's TWSE Capitalization Weighted Stock Index moved higher, adding 266.66 points to 43,386.41, an increase of 0.62 percent.

Rounding out the global picture, South Africa's Top 40 USD Net TRI Index jumped 103.28 points to 6,809.45, a gain of 1.54 percent.

Trading volumes varied across exchanges, with Egypt's index recording a turnover of 705.891 million shares and China's SSE seeing 912.088 million shares change hands.

Investors now look ahead to upcoming central bank policy meetings and key inflation data later in the week for further direction.

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

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