US stocks edged higher on Monday, with the Nasdaq Composite gaining 0.2% to close at an all-time high while the S&P 500 rose 0.1% to notch a fresh record. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.1% as investors balanced a fresh round of market gains against a set of moving parts that included oil, megacap earnings and a major shift in Microsoft’s relationship with OpenAI.
The strength in the Nasdaq came after both the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite ended last week at record highs, extending a run that has kept large technology names in focus. Microsoft said it would no longer have exclusive access to OpenAI’s lineup, and that the revenue-sharing agreement between the two companies is set to end. Microsoft shares fell on the news, adding another headwind for a market already watching quarterly results from most of the Magnificent Seven megacaps later this week.
Oil was another driver. Brent crude futures held above $100 a barrel on Monday, while West Texas Intermediate crossed $96, as traders watched reports that Iran has put forward a new proposal to lift its blockade of the Strait of Hormuz and end the war. Traffic through the strait remained near zero on Monday morning, according to oil strategists, underscoring how quickly any interruption there can feed into inflation worries. The Fed is expected to keep rates steady when its two-day policy meeting starts Tuesday, and that backdrop gives the central bank little room to absorb another jump in energy costs.
Bitcoin added to the risk-off tone in parts of the market. The token was trading below $77,000 after pulling back nearly 2% over the previous 24 hours, leaving it more than 40% below its October peak. Nic Puckrin said he still expects a drop into the bear-market range between $55,700 and $58,200 in the coming months, driven by a broader corporate sell-off by miners and digital asset treasuries, and said without that final flushout it is hard to see a clear path to a fresh Bitcoin bull phase.
Not every move was cautious. Snap jumped 9% after Redburn Research upgraded the stock to Buy and raised its price target to $10 from $5. The move came as investors continued to trade around company-specific catalysts even with the broader market near record territory. In the background, the latest stretch of gains on Nasdaq and the S&P 500 has left little room for disappointment, especially with the Fed meeting, the oil shock risk and the biggest earnings week of the quarter all arriving at once.