LIVE MARKETS-US stocks rise on Iran diplomacy hopes; Space ETF soars as Artemis II makes history

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US STOCKS RISE ON IRAN DIPLOMACY HOPES; SPACE ETF SOARS AS ARTEMIS II MAKES HISTORY

Wall Street's main indexes ended modestly higher on Monday as investors looked for signs of progress toward a U.S.-Iran ceasefire deal amid President Donald Trump's progressively heated threats, should Iran fail to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran has rejected the U.S. proposal for an immediate ceasefire, insisting instead on a permanent end to the war, according to the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA). The rejection followed Trump's increasingly bellicose ultimatums, vowing to rain "hell" on Iran if the crucial Strait of Hormuz bottleneck remains closed to oil tanker traffic.

Investors drew some reassurance from a report that indicated the U.S., Iran and a group of regional mediators continued to discuss terms of a potential ceasefire.

The S&P 500 .SPX and the Nasdaq .IXIC have now both risen four days in a row.

A majority of the S&P 500 sectors finished higher on the day, though changes were relatively subdued. No one group posted an absolute change of more than 0.8%.

Consumer Discretionary .SPLRCD, up 0.8%, was the leading gainer, while Utilities .SPLRCU, off 0.42%, was the weakest group.

Under the surface, transports .DJT, regional banks .KRX, chips .SOX, and big banks .SPXBK were among the day's outperformers. Software & Services .SPLRCIS, biotech .NBI and gold/silver miners .XAU declined modestly.

Meanwhile, despite the market's recent beating and relatively subdued action on Monday, there were still some records.

The four astronauts of NASA's Artemis II mission reached the furthest point that any human has been from Earth on Monday, cruising along a path in the Moon's gravitational sphere of influence that will soon take them over the shadowed, lunar far side.

Along with this, the Procure Space ETF UFO.O scored a record closing high.

Of note, with the benchmark S&P 500 off about 3.4% year-to-date, the Nasdaq lower by 5.4%, and the Mag 7 group of stocks MAGS.Z down 11.5%, UFO's performance has been out of this world. It's rocketed about 28% so far this year.

Here is a snapshot of where markets stood shortly after 4 p.m. EDT.

(Terence Gabriel)

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