Closing Bell: Stocks Trim Losses as Trump Pauses Iran Strike

Markets pared losses late in the session after President Donald Trump said the U.S. would pause a planned military strike on Iran scheduled for Tuesday.

This eased immediate geopolitical tensions, despite continued strength in energy prices amid heightened Middle East risk. President Trump said the military remains prepared for a large-scale assault if diplomatic efforts fail, leaving underlying uncertainty in place.

Stocks faced separate pressure driven by weakness in memory stocks and rising Treasury yields. The S&P 500 was down fractionally to 7,403.05. The Nasdaq fell 0.51% to 26,090.83. Gold rose slightly, and Bitcoin declined alongside a 3% slide in the VIX.

Big Utility M&A news

Florida-based NextEra Energy (NEE) said it would buy Virginia-based Dominion Energy (D) in a largely stock deal valued at $66.8 billion. The combination, if approved by state and federal regulators, would form a behemoth on the East Coast: the world’s largest regulated electric utility as measured by market cap. Dominion, with some plants fueled by natural gas, provides power to millions of homes and to data centers. Leaders said the combo would achieve scale needed for greater capital and operating efficiencies in the face of critical demand for infrastructure to support AI growth.

Dominion stock was among the top performers of the day, surging more than 9%, while NextEra declined more than 4%.

ServiceNow Gets BofA Buy Call on AI Upside

Bank of America reinstated coverage on software company ServiceNow (NOW) with a Buy rating and a $130 price target. BofA highlighted ServiceNow’s potential to benefit from emerging AI.

Shares were among the top performers on Monday with a rise of nearly 9% to $103.42.

Analysts said ServiceNow’s entrenched workflow ecosystem is a competitive advantage and a growth driver, with autonomous agent deployment across IT, employee, and customer workflows. However, investors have flagged concerns around near-term execution, including a roughly 75-basis-point headwind to subscription growth tied to delayed Middle East deal closings due to regional conflict, and a softer organic growth outlook.

Economic Events for Tuesday (Time ET)

8:00am: FOMC Member Waller Speaks

8:15am: ADP Weekly Employment Change

10:00am: Pending Home Sales m/m

4:30pm: API Weekly Statistical Bulletin

7:00pm: FOMC Member Paulson Speaks

Earnings Calendar

Before Market Open: HD

After Market Close: KEYS, TOL, CAVA, RRGB

Dimitra DeFotis contributed to this article.

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