FX.co ★ U.S. Stocks Close On Bright Note Despite Coming Off Day's Highs

On Monday, US stocks showed significant growth, particularly those in the technology sector, due to some bargain hunting following recent losses. The easing of tensions in the Middle East further boosted sentiment.

The Dow closed with a gain of 253.78 points or 0.67 percent at 38,239.98, the S&P 500 settled at 5,010.60, gaining 43.37 points or 0.87 percent, whereas the Nasdaq ended high by 169.30 points or 1.11 percent at 15,451.31.

Market improvement was due to mitigated fears of an extended conflict in the Middle East, after Iran and Israel executed controlled counterattacks aiming to minimize casualties. The market also gained momentum from some bargain hunting.

Investors are now looking forward to key US economic data to be published this week, including figures on new home sales, durable goods orders, and personal income and spending. The Federal Reserve is especially interested in the Commerce Department's report on personal income and spending as it will give insight on inflation.

Several high-profile companies, including Tesla, Boeing, IBM, Caterpillar, Honeywell, Alphabet, Intel, Microsoft, Chevron, and Exxon Mobil, will publish their quarterly results this week.

Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase saw increases of 3.3 percent and 2 percent respectively. Procter & Gamble also gained 1.5 percent. Amazon, McDonald, Chevron, Amgen, and Walmart observed increases ranging from 1 to 1.5 percent. Salesforce.com shares also increased by more than 1 percent due to the discontinuation of talks to purchase the data-management software company, Informatica.

However, after the company announced a weak profit in its first quarter, Verizon's shares went down by 4.7 percent. Similarly, Tesla's shares also decreased by 3.4 percent over concerns regarding gross margins after the firm lowered prices in several markets.

As for international stocks, the Asia-Pacific region generally performed well on Monday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index increased by 1.0 percent and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index surged by 1.8 percent. Likewise, European markets also saw a boost. The UK's FTSE 100 Index rose by 1.62 percent, and both German's DAX Index and the French CAC 40 Index climbed by 0.7 percent and 0.22 percent respectively.

In commodities, crude oil futures decreased by $0.29 ending at $82.35 a barrel. Gold futures saw a significant drop of $66.20 or about 2.76 percent, settling at $2,332.20 an ounce.

On the currency side, the US dollar appreciated against the yen and remained stable against the euro.