US open: Stocks mixed amid AI gains, geopolitical jitters

(Sharecast News) - Wall Street trading began on mixed note on Monday as renewed enthusiasm around artificial intelligence was balanced against rising geopolitical tensions in the Middle East.

As of 1515 BST, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.19% at 53,629.14, while the S&P 500 shed 0.10% to 7,778.10 and the Nasdaq Composite came out of the gate 0.09% att 26,753.54.

The Dow opened 103.27 points lower on Monday, extending losses recorded in the prior session.

Oil prices continued to draw an amount of investor attention early on Monday after a senior Iranian official told Reuters that Tehran would adopt an offensive stance if diplomacy with the US breaks down. International benchmark Brent crude futures up 0.63% at $89.08 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate futures were 0.34% higher at $82.68 a barrel.

Treasury yields were also in focus at the open as market participants looked ahead to the release of the latest Federal Open Markets Committee meeting minutes later in the week. Early on Monday, the benchmark 10year note was one basis point higher at 4.707% as traders positioned for further policy signals.

On the macro front, US manufacturing activity strengthened sharply in August, according to the latest Empire State manufacturing survey from the New York Fed, with firms reporting solid gains in orders and shipments alongside longer delivery times and worsening supply availability. The headline general business conditions index rose five points to 20.6, its highest level in more than four years, signalling strong growth in statewide factory activity.

New orders increased to 17.3, shipments climbed to 11.7, and unfilled orders jumped to 15.5, while the delivery times index also moved higher, pointing to a notable buildup in backlogs. Price pressures remained elevated, with the prices paid index increasing to 58.6, suggesting a pickup in inputcost inflation, while prices received eased to 22.7, indicating sellingprice growth moderated but stayed high. Looking ahead, firms remained upbeat, with the future business conditions index rising to 32.1 as respondents said they were expecting strong gains in orders, shipments and employment over the next six months.

Elsewhere, homebuilder confidence edged slightly higher in August, according to the latest NAHB/Wells Fargo housing market index, though broader signs of cooling persisted across the sector. The headline index rose one point to 35, with current sales conditions improving two points to 39. Sales expectations for the next six months held at 43, while the gauge tracking prospectivebuyer traffic was unchanged at 23. The survey continued to highlight pressure on pricing, with around 35% of builders cutting prices in August, down from 37% in July and unchanged from June. The use of sales incentives remained elevated at 63%, matching the prior month.

In the corporate space, the tech-heavy Nasdaq was supported by gains in chipmakers after Bloomberg reported that Anthropic's secondquarter revenues had surged to more than $11.5bn. Micron climbed over 4%, while Broadcom and Nvidia also traded higher on the report.

No major corporate earnings were slated for release on Monday.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com