U.S. stocks were mixed as a pause in tit-for-tat strikes in Iran was offset by doubts about the artificial-intelligence boom and chip-stock valuations.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 262.83 points, or 0.51%, to 52210.08. The broad S&P 500 edged up 1.20 points, or 0.02%, to 7413.18. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite, meanwhile, slipped 43.74 points, or 0.18%, to 24932.08.

President Trump opted against a major escalation of his military campaign against Iran, partly because of Pentagon concerns about munitions stockpiles.

U.S.-traded oil futures plunged $6.70, or 7.5%, to $82.61 a barrel.

Clashes around the Strait of Hormuz and the Red Sea had caused a spike in oil prices last week, with West Texas intermediate futures closing above $92 a barrel on Thursday.

The energy shock once again captured the attention of bond and equity markets. The shock lingered Monday.

The yield on the 30-year Treasury bond declined 0.036 percentage point, to 5.125%, extending the longest streak of closes above 5% since 2007.

Iran war complications have increased the likelihood of a Federal Reserve rate increase in the coming months, spurring yields higher for much of the summer.

The yield on the 10-Treasury year note fell 0.038 percentage point, to 4.640%. The yield on the two-year Treasury declined 0.010 percentage point, to 4.318%.

The Fed is widely anticipated to keep rates steady in a range between 3.5% and 3.75% when it concludes its meeting Wednesday. Fed funds futures markets reflect an outside chance of a rate increase, however.

The U.S. dollar was more or less flat against rivals ahead of the meeting.

Gold futures, which also track rate expectations, rose $6.90 per troy ounce, or 0.2%, to $4074.50 a troy ounce.

The volatile semiconductor sector sold off amid advances in Chinese technology and chatter about "circular" artificial-intelligence deals. Memory chip maker ChangXin Memory Technologies rose more than five-fold on its stock-market debut in China.

Shares of rival memory-chip makers fell. Sandisk declined 11%. American depositary receipts of South Korean chip maker SK Hynix lost 7.5%.

Separately, Bloomberg reported a Chinese company had started making immersion deep ultraviolet lithography machines. Shares of Dutch chip-equipment maker ASML, which is the global leader in ultraviolet lithography, fell 5.8%, to $1,655.26.

Nvidia lost 5%, to $196.51, after it entered talks to provide a roughly $250 billion backstop for OpenAI as part of a massive data-center project in Ohio.

Skeptics pointed to the unorthodox nature of a deal that could see Nvidia funding a project that promised to be a major customer. Bulls said these worries were misplaced, given the magnitude of demand for tech hardware created by the AI data-center rush.

"[Tech giants] in spending mode seem to be ramping up the spending even more," said J.D. Joyce, president of Houston financial advisory Joyce Wealth Management.

"If they're doing that, it means they're going to be buying things like chips of varying degrees of sophistication," Joyce said. "When you have that much demand, it's hard to see the party coming to an end any time soon," he added.

Durable goods orders rose 0.3% in June, short of economists' expectations.

French luxury-goods conglomerate LVMH reported an acceleration in second-quarter revenue growth on strong sales of Louis Vuitton leather goods, Dior fragrances and other premium items. LVMH's performance suggested upper-income U.S. households continue to increase spending.

Deal activity continued. Kuwait Petroleum and Kuwait Oil signed a $16 billion pipeline-lease agreement with investors led by Blackstone, Brookfield and KKR, a sign that Wall Street investors are still eager to make investments in the Persian Gulf.

European pharmaceutical firm Argenx struck a deal to buy rival Forte Biosciences for $2.2 billion, bulking up its immunology portfolio.

Cracker Barrel Chief Executive Julie Masino stepped down, ending a three-year tenure at the comfort-food chain. Cracker Barrel had landed at the center of a political firestorm before Masino walked back some rebranding plans.

Write to Rob Curran at rob.curran@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 27, 2026 16:47 ET (20:47 GMT)

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