US Stock Market Today: Nasdaq, S&P 500 Up Despite Iran's Strike On US Military Base In Qatar

Wall Street indices were trading flat at around 01:00 pm (EST), following Iran's strikes on the US military base in Qatar. The Iranian action holds the potential to further escalate the war in Middle East, which could adversely impact the equities and commodities markets worldwide.

As of 01:43 (EST), the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed over 200 points or about 0.6%, shortly after the strikes. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite rose 0.8%.

The S&P 500 gained 0.7% to trade above 5,900 points. In the index, Tesla marked 9.6% gains during the trade so far.

Earlier in the trade, counters like Delta Airlines, Airbnb, Starbucks and Marriott International were down.

Among major companies, shares of Tesla were up nearly 5%, AMD and Eli Lilly were up over 2% and names like PayPaland Dollar Tree were also trading higher.

As trading commenced on Monday, investors were watching for signs that Iran could respond to strikes by Israel and the US by seeking to disrupt shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, a major route for oil and natural gas.

On Friday, Wall Street had jumped after Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller said inflation was tame enough that the central bank could cut rates at its next meeting.

The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index on Monday was up 0.5% to hit levels last seen on May 30 as investors worried that higher oil prices could stoke inflation and prevent the Federal Reserve from cutting interest rates.

The dollar rose to the highest level in nearly a month as US strikes on Iran spurred demand for the currency while underscoring the risks posed by climbing oil prices, according to Bloomberg.

Bitcoin rose 1.6% to $101,188.26 while spot gold prices remained majorly unchanged. The 10-year Treasury yield declined three basis points to 4.34%. Further, the West Texas Intermediate Crude rose 0.3% to $74.04 a barrel.