Linea Mercati Interview 4/14/26
April 14, 2026Washington (United States) (AFP) – The New York Stock Exchange closed higher on Monday, as investors wanted to believe in a potential agreement between Washington and Tehran despite the American blockade of Iranian ports.
After opening lower, the leading indices of the American stock market finally turned around: the Dow Jones gained 0.63%, the Nasdaq index rose 1.23% and the broader S&P 500 index rose 1.02%.
“The market is betting that Donald Trump will be able to reach an agreement” with Tehran, Peter Cardillo of Spartan Capital Securities told AFP.
The US president asserted on Monday that the Iranians “would like to make a deal, at any cost,” after talks in Pakistan to end the war in the Middle East failed.
He added on his Truth Social platform that 34 ships crossed the Strait of Hormuz on Sunday, which is “by far the highest number since the beginning of this insane closure” by Iran.
A fifth of the world’s oil normally passes through this strategic bottleneck, where Tehran has imposed transit fees that have considerably restricted maritime traffic in recent weeks, in retaliation for Israeli-American attacks.
After rising to $103.87 during the session, the price of a barrel of Brent crude from the North Sea – the international benchmark for crude oil – finally fell back below the $100 threshold at the close following these statements.
The US market had nevertheless started the day in the red, after Donald Trump threatened on Monday to “destroy” any Iranian “fast attack vessel” that forced the blockade of Iran’s ports.
Denouncing an “illegal” act of “piracy”, Iran warned that it would target the ports of its Gulf neighbors if “the security of the ports of the Islamic Republic (…) were threatened”.
“The market reaction is ultimately relatively moderate,” note the analysts at Briefing.com.
In the bond market, the 10-year yield on US government bonds eased around 20:15 GMT, trading around 4.30% compared to 4.32% at Friday’s close.
In addition to geopolitical developments, investors will also be keeping a close eye this week on US indicators, including producer inflation (PPI) for March on Tuesday.
On the corporate side, earnings season has begun, with the major banks leading the way.
The American investment bank Goldman Sachs ended down (-1.89% at $890.63) despite Monday’s announcement of better-than-expected results.
The banking group posted a net profit of $5.4 billion (+18% year-on-year), while analysts’ consensus forecast was $5.08 billion.
The financial performances of JP Morgan (+1.14%), Wells Fargo (+1.41%) and Citigroup (+1.48%) are expected on Tuesday.
“Software sector stocks are experiencing a spectacular rebound (Monday) after their recent decline,” also note analysts at Briefing.com.
Oracle soared 12.71%, Crowdstrike gained 6.13% and Salesforce added 4.73%.
Since the beginning of the year, the sector has been largely shaken by fears that artificial intelligence will undermine its business model. Some major software companies have lost 30% to 50% of their market capitalization in just a few months.
