US open: Stocks lower as traders assess Middle East flare up

(Sharecast News) - Major indices were in the red early on Monday amid a flare up in the US and Israel's conflict with Iran.

As of 1510 BST, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.14% at 50,961.57, while the S&P 500 shed 0.06% to 7,575.31 and the Nasdaq Composite came out of the gate 0.08% softer at 26,950.99.

The Dow opened 70.89 points lower on Monday, taking a bite out of gains recorded in the previous session after the US and Iran signed a 60-day memorandum of understanding to extend their uneasy ceasefire.

While Donald Trump said he would meet in the Situation Room "to make a final determination" and reiterated that Iran "must agree that they will never have a Nuclear Weapon" and "immediately open" the Strait of Hormuz, the US and Iran resumed air strikes over the weekend, with each side claiming to have hit military targets near the Strait of Hormuz. An Axios report published on Saturday claimed Trump had requested multiple amendments to the latest terms his envoys had agreed with officials from Tehran.

Trump also lashed out at critics on Monday as a potential agreement with Tehran remains elusive, claiming that Iran "really wants to make a deal" and that it would be a good one for both the US and its allies.

"But don't the Dumocrats, and various seemingly unpatriotic Republicans, understand that it is MUCH tougher for me to properly do my job and negotiate, when political hacks keep negatively 'chirping', at levels never seen before, over and over again, that I should move faster, or move slower, or go to war, or not go to war, or whatever," Trump said. "Just sit back and relax, it will all work out well in the end - It always does!"

Oil prices also traded higher at the open, with West Texas Intermediate futures up 6% and sitting it roughly $92 a barrel after Iranian state media reported that its negotiators were cutting contact with Washington and that Tehran was set to completely close the Strait of Hormuz due to Israel's latest strikes on Lebanon.

On the macro front, S&P Global's US manufacturing purchasing managers index rose to 55.1 in May, up from 54.5 in April but below a preliminary estimate of 55.3, while the Institute for Supply Manufacturing's PMI increased to 54 in May, up from 52.7 in April.

Elsewhere, construction spending increased by 0.4% month-on-month to $2.17trn in April, according to the Census Bureau, ahead of March's $2.16trn figure and April 2025's $2.15trn print. For the first four momths of 2026, construction spending came to $657.2trn, up 0.2% year-on-year. Private construction spending was up 0.4% at $1.63trn, while public construction also ticked up 0.4% to $532.7bn.

In the corporate space, Nvidia traded higher in early action after the chipmaker unveiled a new processor for personal computers. Intel, on the other hand, fell more than 6% following the news.

Still to come, Hewlett Packard will publish its latest quarterly figures after the close.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com

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Salesforce.Com Inc. (CRM) $204.40 6.99%

International Business Machines Corporation (CDI) (IBM) $315.28 5.73%

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Dow Chemical Co. (DOW) $35.22 3.79%

Chevron Corp. (CVX) $185.95 1.61%

Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $119.09 0.74%

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $1,024.90 0.05%

Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $291.49 0.01%

Dowdupont Inc. (DWDP) $0.00 0.00%

Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (WBA) $0.00 0.00%

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Boeing Co. (BA) $224.93 -2.88%

Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) $140.42 -2.51%

Home Depot Inc. (HD) $311.17 -1.92%

3M Co. (MMM) $150.21 -1.82%

Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $116.54 -1.72%

Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) $222.34 -1.41%

Amgen Inc. (AMGN) $331.28 -1.38%

Nike Inc. (NKE) $45.76 -1.36%

American Express Co. (AXP) $312.52 -1.35%

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Intuit Inc. (INTU) $352.53 11.45%

Autodesk Inc. (ADSK) $240.37 10.04%

Adobe Systems Inc. (ADBE) $269.94 9.30%

Humana Inc. (HUM) $330.24 8.20%

Micron Technology Inc. (MU) $1,023.11 8.16%

Gen Digital Inc. (GEN) $26.52 7.59%

Fortinet Inc. (FTNT) $141.68 7.41%

Salesforce.Com Inc. (CRM) $204.40 6.99%

International Business Machines Corporation (CDI) (IBM) $315.28 5.73%

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FedEx Corp. (FDX) $331.42 -19.76%

Intel Corp. (INTC) $107.44 -13.30%

QUALCOMM Inc. (QCOM) $229.59 -9.36%

Coterra Energy Inc. (CTRA) $32.56 -8.62%

Skyworks Solutions Inc. (SWKS) $75.77 -7.73%

Texas Instruments Inc (TXN) $293.02 -6.88%

Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD) $487.02 -5.65%

Microchip Technology Inc. (MCHP) $91.40 -4.98%

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Bath & Body Works, Inc. (BBWI) $19.05 -4.20%

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Intuit Inc. (INTU) $352.53 11.45%

Autodesk Inc. (ADSK) $240.37 10.04%

Adobe Systems Inc. (ADBE) $269.94 9.30%

Micron Technology Inc. (MU) $1,023.11 8.16%

Gen Digital Inc. (GEN) $26.52 7.59%

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Intel Corp. (INTC) $107.44 -13.30%

QUALCOMM Inc. (QCOM) $229.59 -9.36%

Skyworks Solutions Inc. (SWKS) $75.77 -7.73%

Texas Instruments Inc (TXN) $293.02 -6.88%

Microchip Technology Inc. (MCHP) $91.40 -4.98%

American Airlines Group (AAL) $14.14 -3.97%

Analog Devices Inc. (ADI) $403.68 -3.55%

Amazon.Com Inc. (AMZN) $264.30 -3.13%

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