Wall Street posts best day since April as oil plunges on Iran talks
Photo: Getty Images (file photo)The U.S. stock market rallied to its best day since April on Monday, clawing back more of last week's big losses as oil prices swung lower on signs of progress in talks to end the war with Iran.
The S&P 500 jumped 2.3% — 173.08 points to 7,549.94 — for its second straight gain, leaving the index just 3.4% below the all-time high it set last month. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 1,104.02 points, or 2.2%, to 52,389.75, and the Nasdaq composite rallied 2.7% to 25,253.14.
Stocks broadly got a lift from a 5.8% drop in the price of a barrel of Brent crude, the international benchmark, to $92.57. Brent has been coming down from more than $112 at the start of the month amid uncertainty about what will happen with the war with Iran.
The latest leg lower came after President Donald Trump told CNN over the weekend that a resumption of strikes is "highly unlikely" if the United States sees progress in negotiations. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio struck a more cautious note Sunday, saying Iranian demands for ending the war had sometimes been "outrageous and ridiculous."
The rally followed a wipeout last week on worries that Democratic victories in the midterm elections could lead to a slowdown in the construction of AI data centers. That built on worries already rattling the industry that further construction of data centers may slow because of how expensive it has become to borrow money — and on claims by critics that AI stock prices had shot too high and were in a bubble.
Companies with big fuel bills helped lead Wall Street on Monday on expectations for costs that may not be as bad as feared. United Airlines flew 5.9% higher, and cruise operator Carnival rose 4%.
Several strong profit reports from big U.S. companies also helped lift the market. Constellation Energy climbed 10.3% after the power company reported profit and revenue for the summer that topped analysts' expectations. It has been benefiting from deals announced recently to power data centers for Big Tech companies.
Other stocks linked to the AI buildout also did better on Monday. Advanced Micro Devices rose 12.9% to recover some of its 11% loss from last week. CoreWeave climbed 5.1% after tumbling 15.4% last week.
That strength came even though Nvidia, one of Wall Street's most influential stocks, sank. The chip company fell 4.3% to $178.67 after its board opened an independent investigation into reports that CEO Jensen Huang was targeted by a foreign intelligence effort. Huang has acknowledged an intimate relationship with a business executive who, according to The New York Times, U.S. intelligence determined was gathering information for China. Nvidia's board said it has "no reason to believe" that either national security or Nvidia secrets were compromised, but that its inquiry would examine all available information.
In the bond market, Treasury yields held relatively steady following big moves last week. The yield on the 10-year Treasury inched up to 4.88% from 4.86% late Friday. It remains well below a peak above 5.30% that it reached last month, when it touched its highest level in two decades on worries about high inflation and the U.S. government's big debt.
A New York Federal Reserve survey released Monday showed Americans' inflation expectations holding steady: the median one-year expectation was unchanged at 3.9% in October, with the three-year expectation at 3.3% and the five-year at 3.0%.
In stock markets abroad, the Nikkei 225 in Japan jumped 2.3%, France's CAC 40 rose 1.2%, stocks rose 0.3% in Shanghai and dipped 0.1% in Hong Kong.
Investors now turn to Tuesday's October consumer price report, the week's key test for inflation and for expectations about the Federal Reserve's December decision.
Sources: The Associated Press, "US stocks rally and recover most of last week's losses as oil prices swing lower" by Stan Choe (Nov. 9, 2026, full text verified); Reuters, "Trading Day: Broad rebound rally lifts all boats but Nvidia" (Nov. 9, 2026); Reuters, "Wall St roars back as oil slide eases inflation jitters; Nvidia drops" (Nov. 9, 2026). Event date verified: Monday, November 9, 2026, closing market figures confirmed by both sources.
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