The three major U.S. stock indexes started mixed on the 22nd local time, digesting progress in U.S.-Iran cease-fire memorandum of understanding (MOU) talks.
As of 9:56 a.m., the Dow Jones Industrial Average on the New York Stock Exchange rose 264.83 points, or 0.51%, to 51,829.53. The Standard & Poor's (S&P) 500 gained 19.92 points, or 0.27%, to 7,520.50. In contrast, the Nasdaq composite fell 17.73 points, or 0.07%, to 26,500.21 in transactions.
Progress in the U.S.-Iran cease-fire deal acted as a bullish factor for stocks. U.S. Vice President JD Vance said of the MOU talks with Iran that "we have laid a very good foundation for a successful final agreement." Vance added, "Working-level talks will continue over the coming days and weeks."
Vance also said Iran agreed to invite back International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) nuclear inspectors, noting that related discussions could begin as early as this week, or even today.
However, gains were limited as caution persisted ahead of memory chip corporations Micron's earnings release this week and the release of the personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index, which the Federal Reserve (Fed) uses as a benchmark.
Dan Coatsworth, AJ Bell's chief market analyst, said, "Markets have recovered in recent weeks on hopes that the Middle East conflict could be resolved and a high inflation environment would not emerge," but added, "The conflict in the Middle East is still ongoing, which means investors are unlikely to move into a full risk-on mood."
By sector, technology and industrials were strong, while communications and energy were weak.
Apogee Therapeutics surged 46.80% after AbbVie said it would acquire the company for $10.9 billion in cash.
Micron rose 4.65% in transactions ahead of its earnings release on the 24th. Bernstein raised its price target on Micron to $1,300, and Needham raised it to $1,550.
Alphabet fell 3.90%. News broke that John Jumper, a researcher at Google AI lab DeepMind, is leaving Google for Anthropic. The news came just days after Vice President of engineering Noam Shazeer released that he would join OpenAI.
European stocks were mostly higher. The Euro Stoxx 50 rose 0.47% to 6,322.67 in transactions. Britain's FTSE 100 and Germany's DAX rose 0.58% and 0.47%, respectively. France's CAC 40 fell 0.30%.
International oil prices fell. At the same time, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for July 2026 delivery, the nearest-month contract, fell 2.38% to $74.78 a barrel from the previous session.