(Updates with index/price moves and political/company news from the first paragraph.)

US equity indexes traded mixed amid steep declines in communication services and consumer discretionary in Monday's midday trading.

The Nasdaq Composite dropped 1.2% to 26,208.5, with the S&P 500 down 0.3% to 7,478.8, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.4% to 51,774.9.

All sectors, except communication services, consumer discretionary, and technology, gained. Real estate and healthcare led the gainers. Communication services sank 4.5%, and consumer discretionary was down 1.9%.

Alphabet (GOOG, GOOGL) Google DeepMind data scientist and Nobel Prize winner John Jumper is leaving to join Amazon (AMZN) and Alphabet-backed Anthropic, he said Friday. Shares of Alphabet slumped 6% intraday.

In geopolitical news, US Vice President JD Vance said Monday that Iran agreed to allow International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors into the country, according to media reports. "That is a major milestone for the American people, and the first step in permanently denuclearizing or permanently ending a nuclear weapons program in Iran, and that's exactly what we wanted to do," Vance was cited as saying.

Front-month global benchmark North Sea Brent slumped 3.8% to $77.48 per barrel. The US West Texas Intermediate dropped 3.2% to $73.45 per barrel.