Nasdaq Jumps as Oil Prices Tumble on US-Iran Pause, With Big Tech Earnings and Fed Decision This Week

The Nasdaq Composite climbed Monday morning, trading at 25,168.15 as Wall Street opened the busiest week of the quarter with a wave of relief after the United States and Iran paused fighting over the weekend, sending oil prices sharply lower and lifting broader market sentiment.

A strong start to a pivotal week

The tech-heavy Nasdaq advanced roughly 0.84% in early trading Monday, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained about 1.17% and the S&P 500 added 0.76%, according to market data. The gains followed a choppy week that had pushed the indexes lower, with both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq booking back-to-back weekly losses heading into the new trading week. Monday's rally reflected renewed optimism that a broader path toward de-escalation in the Middle East could be forming, after two consecutive weeks of intensified fighting between the U.S. and Iran.

Oil prices tumble on peace hopes

Crude prices led Monday's market movement, with Brent crude futures falling more than 5% to trade near $91 a barrel as investors grew more optimistic about the prospects for a resumption of peace negotiations. The pause in fighting followed roughly two weeks of strikes between the two countries, and the sharp drop in oil prices offered a measure of relief to markets that had spent much of July grappling with the inflationary pressure of rising energy costs tied to the conflict.

A jam-packed week of earnings and Fed policy

Monday's gains arrived just as markets entered what analysts have described as the busiest stretch of the entire quarter, with a heavy slate of additional Big Tech earnings reports due throughout the week alongside a closely watched Federal Reserve interest rate decision scheduled for Wednesday. A continued decline in oil prices could ease some of the pressure facing the central bank as it weighs its next policy move, given how directly energy costs have factored into recent inflation concerns.

Earnings season delivering strong results overall

Second-quarter earnings season has gotten off to a stronger-than-expected start this year, with corporate America posting robust profit growth and widespread beats relative to Wall Street forecasts. As of one recent tally, nearly 88% of the roughly 66 S&P 500 companies that had reported results at that point had topped bottom-line estimates, according to FactSet data. Notable individual beats have included 3M, whose shares jumped more than 7% after stronger-than-expected second-quarter results, and General Motors, which saw its stock climb nearly 5% after beating on both revenue and profit.

Bret Kenwell, U.S. investment analyst at eToro, described the stakes of the current earnings stretch bluntly. "The next two weeks will be a defining stretch for earnings, and not just for tech," Kenwell said, adding that companies falling short of Wall Street's elevated expectations have faced swift punishment from investors this earnings season.

A volatile month for chip and tech stocks

Despite the overall strength of this earnings season, individual technology and semiconductor names have experienced significant swings throughout July. Chip stocks pulled back sharply late last week, with Intel shares falling nearly 8% even after reporting second-quarter results that exceeded expectations, while Broadcom slipped 2.7%, Advanced Micro Devices dropped 3.3%, and Micron Technology declined 7% in the same session. Big Tech names Alphabet and Tesla also weighed on markets after both companies reported results the previous Wednesday; Alphabet posted a fundamentally strong quarter but saw its shares pressured after raising its capital expenditure outlook, as investors continued scrutinizing whether massive AI infrastructure spending is generating adequate returns. Tesla CEO Elon Musk separately described 2026 as a "massive capex year" for his company, citing continued investment in Optimus robots, robotaxis and data centers.

Interest rate outlook complicated by energy volatility

The interplay between energy prices and Federal Reserve policy has remained a key theme for markets throughout the summer. Thomas Urano, co-chief investment officer at Sage Advisory, said ahead of the Fed's upcoming policy meeting that the central bank faces unusual difficulty navigating the current environment. "Policymakers have limited ability to offset supply-driven price shocks, and the uncertainty surrounding Middle East developments reduces confidence in any projected rate path," Urano said, adding that until energy flows through the region stabilize, geopolitical headlines are likely to continue influencing inflation expectations, bond yields and Fed policy decisions.

A broader market still up sharply for the year

Despite the recent volatility, U.S. equities remain well ahead of where they stood a year ago. The broader U.S. stock market index tracked by Trading Economics stood at 7,454 points as of Monday, up 0.57% from the previous session and roughly 16.66% higher than the same point last year, even though the index has gained just 0.19% over the trailing month, reflecting how much of this year's overall gains were built earlier in 2026 before the recent stretch of choppier trading.

What to watch this week

Beyond the Fed's Wednesday rate decision, investors are watching for continued signs that the pause in U.S.-Iran hostilities holds, given how directly that conflict has influenced oil prices and broader risk sentiment throughout the summer. A steady stream of additional corporate earnings reports is also expected throughout the week, adding to an already eventful start to the trading period. With markets having already shown how sharply they can swing in either direction based on developments in the Middle East, this week's combination of earnings results and Fed policy is likely to test whether Monday's rally can be sustained or whether volatility returns as investors process the latest wave of information.