US benchmark equity indexes ended higher Monday on a late rally as markets assessed a Moody's downgrade of the nation's credit rating and comments by a Federal Reserve official.

* On Friday, Moody's lowered the world's largest economy's long-term issuer and senior unsecured ratings to Aa1 from Aaa, citing a sustained increase in debt and interest payment ratios. Moody's revised its outlook on the US to stable from negative.

* The downgrade may weigh on global confidence in US Treasuries, Wells Fargo Investment Institute said.

* "While demand for Treasuries is likely to remain strong, in our view, reduced foreign appetite -- already evident following President Donald Trump's tariff announcements -- could exacerbate fiscal pressures," the report said.

* Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic said he prefers only one rate cut in 2025 for now with tariffs larger than the Fed anticipated at the start of the year. CNBC reported.

* June West Texas Intermediate crude oil closed up $0.06 to settle at $62.55 per barrel, while July Brent crude, the global benchmark, was last seen down $0.04 to $65.37.

* TXNM Energy (TXNM) agreed to be acquired by Blackstone's (BX) infrastructure arm in a deal with a total enterprise value of about $11.5 billion, including debt and stock. TXNM shares rose 7%, while Blackstone fell 0.8%.

* Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) agreed to sell ZT Systems' data center infrastructure manufacturing business to Sanmina (SANM) for $3 billion in stock and cash. AMD shares fell 2.1%, and Sanmina dropped 3.8%.