US STOCKS-Wall St starts the month strong as Mideast deal hopes rise

Wall Street's main indexes opened higher on the first trading day of August, driven by lower crude prices and gains in megacap and growth stocks, including Amazon.com.

Wall Street's main indexes opened higher on the first trading day of August as signs of de-escalating tensions in the Middle East dragged down crude prices, while investors prepared for another ‌week packed with earnings and economic data.

U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday said talks with Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz would take place sometime on Monday, though Iran contradicted him. Brent crude prices slid over 5.5% while the yield on the two-year Treasury note dipped 3.9 basis points.

Most megacap and growth stocks rose in early trading. Amazon.com gained 4.8% to reach $3 ‌trillion in market value for the first time. Traders also weighed a potential consolidation in the healthcare sector after a report said Bristol Myers Squibb and AstraZeneca held preliminary merger ‌talks. A deal could form one of the world's biggest drugmakers, worth nearly $400 billion. The U.S. company's shares inched up 1.5% in early trading.

Seven of the 11 S&P sectors were higher, led by communications services, while energy lagged. Chip stocks were a drag after a rocky July, with the Philadelphia chips index down 2.8%. Software names, including Salesforce and Microsoft, were on the rise.

Amazon and Microsoft's earnings last week alleviated some concerns about the lack of ⁠evidence of ​any pay-off from elevated AI spending, but investors ⁠will be keen on how other major names fare. "The on-again, off-again nature of U.S.-Iran diplomacy could mean earnings and jobs data will have to do the heavy lifting for the bulls this week," said Chris Larkin, ⁠managing director for trading and investing at E*TRADE from Morgan Stanley.

SpaceX will report on Tuesday its first quarterly results since going public. Its shares — trading below their $135 offering price for nearly three weeks — ​eased 1.4%. Other AI-linked companies reporting this week include Palantir, Advanced Micro Devices as well as data storage companies SanDisk and Western Digital .

Micron lost 3.4% after Reuters reported ⁠that Chinese rival CXMT is considering a second memory-chip plant in Beijing. At 9:35 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 604.70 points, or 1.15%, to 53,089.73, the S&P 500 gained 42.16 points, or 0.56%, to 7,531.88 and the ⁠Nasdaq Composite ​gained 124.05 points, or 0.49%, to 25,497.90.

Wall Street had a rough July due to global concerns on the AI trajectory, future interest rates and the U.S.-Iran conflict. A report that Federal Reserve chair Kevin Warsh raisedthe idea of scheduling fewer rate-setting meetings — in line with his plan to reduce Fed rate guidance — added to uncertainties.

New York Fed ⁠President John Williams on Monday expressed optimism that inflation pressures are on track to ease gradually. Hotel operator Marriott International fell 4.2% after forecasting third-quarter profit below expectations, while Tyson Foods dropped ⁠3.3% after cutting its annual profit forecast.

The week ⁠is also packed with several labor market reports, including the official nonfarm payrolls figures due on Friday. Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.89-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and by a 1.49-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.

The S&P 500 posted 10 new 52-week highs and ‌no new lows while the ‌Nasdaq Composite recorded 62 new highs and 43 new lows.