Trump's Hormuz Blockade Sends Oil Past $100, Oracle Jumps 8%: What's Moving Markets Monday?

U.S. equities recovered from a sharp opening decline by midday Monday, staging a tentative rebound despite President Donald Trump‘s announcement of a naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz sending oil prices above $100 per barrel.

The U.S. delegation led by Vice President JD Vance left Pakistan on Sunday without a deal after Iran refused to abandon its nuclear ambitions, prompting Trump to announce that the United States Navy would begin blockading all ships entering or exiting Iranian ports effective Monday at 10:00 AM ET.

Yet a midday report from the New York Post that Iranian officials were internally studying whether to accept a U.S. condition to abandon uranium enrichment offered equity markets a partial lifeline, pulling indices sharply off their intraday lows.

West Texas Intermediate crude surged to $103.16 per barrel, up 6.8% on the session. Brent crude topped $101.96 per barrel, up 7.1%.

Across U.S. equity markets by midday Monday, the picture was split: technology and energy names advanced while consumer staples, utilities, and financials lagged.

The S&P 500 edged up 11 points, or 0.2%, to 6,827, recovering from an opening dip that had briefly pushed the index down more than 0.5%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 201 points, or 0.4%, to 47,715, weighed heavily by a steep drop in Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS), which slid 3.9% after first-quarter fixed-income, currencies and commodities trading revenues missed Wall Street estimates.

The Nasdaq 100 added 84 points, or 0.3%, to 25,201, buoyed by software and cloud computing names. 

Shares of Oracle Corp. (NYSE:ORCL) rallied over 8% after the enterprise software giant unveiled AI-powered upgrades to its Utilities Industry Suite and Aconex project management platform — enhancements designed to help utilities cut operating costs and improve grid reliability — and announced a new public cloud region in Casablanca, Morocco, extending its global infrastructure footprint.

Monday’s Performance In Major US Indices

According to the Benzinga Pro platform:

• The Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (NYSE:VOO) edged up 0.2%.
• The SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF Trust (NYSE:DIA) slid 0.4%.
• The Invesco QQQ Trust (NASDAQ:QQQ) gained 0.3%.
• The iShares Russell 2000 ETF (NYSE:IWM) added 0.3%.

Tech Software Surges, Staples And Utilities Sink As Oil Tops $100

The Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLK) was the session’s top-performing S&P 500 sector, rising 0.9%, powered by cloud and enterprise software stocks, which sharply rebounded after last week’s strong selloff.

The iShares Expanded Tech-Software Sector ETF (BATS:IGV) led all industry ETFs with a gain of 4.3%. ServiceNow, Inc. (NYSE:NOW) climbed 6.7%. Palantir Technologies Inc. (NYSE:PLTR) and CrowdStrike Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CRWD) each gained more than 5%.

The Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLE) also posted a gain of 0.6% as oil-related stocks advanced in sympathy with crude prices. The VanEck Oil Services ETF (NYSE:OIH) gained 1.1% and the SPDR S&P Oil & Gas Exploration & Production ETF (NYSE:XOP) added 0.9%.

On the downside, the Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLP) was the weakest S&P 500 sector, falling 1.6%, as food and household goods companies retreated amid renewed inflation fears. The Utilities Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLU) shed 1.5% as rising yields diminished the appeal of rate-sensitive sectors.

The U.S. Global Jets ETF (NYSE:JETS) fell 1.9%, as carriers priced in sharply higher jet fuel costs. The VanEck Gold Miners ETF (NYSE:GDX) declined 1.7% alongside spot gold prices; Newmont Corporation (NYSE:NEM) was the steepest faller in the mining group, down 4.3%.

Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST) fell 7.7% after reporting first-quarter EPS of $0.30, in line with Wall Street estimates.

Monday’s S&P 500 Top Gainers

Monday’s S&P 500 Top Losers

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