US stocks slipped on Monday as President Donald Trump said an extension to the ceasefire with Iran was unlikely.
The S&P 500 Index closed 0.2% lower in New York, snapping five-straight sessions of gains and stepping back from an all-time closing. The tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 Index fell 0.3%. Brent crude surged 5.3% to around $95 a barrel, while the Cboe Volatility Index hovered at 19.
Meanwhile, the Philadelphia Stock Exchange Semiconductor Index advanced 0.5%, notching a 14th straight session in the green - a winning streak that it has exceeded just once, in 2014.
"A reescalation of Middle East tensions is blowing bearish winds across Wall Street as investors consider the risk that the US-Iran conflict could be prolonged," said José Torres, senior economist at Interactive Brokers.
Trump's comments, made in a phone interview with Bloomberg News, increases the urgency for negotiators to conclude a deal to end the war. The ceasefire expires on "Wednesday evening Washington time," the president said, potentially buying more time for negotiations. Still, Trump viewed it as "highly unlikely" that he will extend the truce if no deal is reached before then.
"I'm not going to be rushed into making a bad deal. We've got all the time in the world," the president said. He also reiterated that the Strait of Hormuz would remain blockaded for now.
Vice President JD Vance will be leaving for Pakistan on Monday to resume negotiations "either Tuesday night or Wednesday morning," said Trump.
"Markets are once again grappling with a rapidly shifting narrative in the Middle East, as the past 48 hours have delivered both optimism and renewed concern," said Daniela Hathorn, senior market analyst at Capital.com, adding that the market feels "stuck at a crossroads" as a result of the jostling.
In addition to developments in the Iran war, traders will be keeping an eye on economic data throughout the week, including retail sales, initial jobless claims and consumer sentiment data.
Furthermore, Trump's pick for Federal Reserve chair, Kevin Warsh, will have a confirmation hearing on Tuesday.
"Wall Street will pay close attention to Chair nominee Kevin Warsh's views on monetary policy and central bank independence while retail sales will help the market gauge how consumers are holding up in this fresh inflationary environment," said Torres.
In single-stock moves, AST SpaceMobile Inc. fell 5.3% after Blue Origin's flagship New Glenn rocket failed to correctly place into orbit a payload it was carrying for the Texas-based satellite networking company.
Meanwhile, Marvell Technology Inc. rose 5.8% to an all-time high after The Information reported that Google was in discussions with the semiconductor company to develop two new chips to run artificial-intelligence models more efficiently.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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