Wall Street stocks slightly higher ahead of Trump's Iran decision

• Trump announces that he will announce its decision on the Iran deal on Tuesday at 18:00 GMT. 
• The US Dollar Index keeps pushing higher as market participants expect three to four rates hikes this year.

The S&P 500 rose 0.3% to 2,673 while the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.4% to 24,355. The Nasdaq Composite Index gained 0.8% to 7,265. Technology stocks was one of the best performing sector of the day, up 0.8%. Microsoft gained 1.1% and Apple rose 0.7%.

The energy stocks got a 2% boost but then retread to end at 0.2% as Trump tweeted that he would announce his decision on the Iran deal on Tuesday at 18:00 GMT. WTI crude oil broke well above the $70.00 a barrel mark intraday but then retreated to the 96.90 region. If Trump decided to impose harsher sanction on Iran, which is one the largest oil producer, it could lead to an oil supply squeeze and potentially push prices even higher. On the flip side, if the US keeps the Iran deal as it is, the market would likely sell the black oil as much of the recent bull leg was fears related to Iran.

It was a rather quiet trading session as market participants are digestiing the last Non-Farm Payroll and wage’s growth data from last Friday, the Iran deal and the US-China trade war conflict which is still looming in the background.

Meanwhile, the USD Dollar Index (DXY) kept pushing higher on Monday and reached the 92.97 level in what is now a three-week bull trend.

“Market participants realize that the recent increase in the commodity’s price—and possibly more gains in light of the U.S. vs. Iran dispute on the nuclear deal—will have to take their toll on U.S. inflation. Higher domestic inflation would be just what the Fed needs in order to tilt towards 3 additional rate increases in 2018. Furthermore, the tighter labor market conditions—as seen on Friday’s data—are also expected to push wage growth higher in the medium term. Higher energy prices and stronger wage growth is almost an ‘one-way road’ to higher inflation which would leave no option to the Fed other than raising rates more aggressively—which explains why the greenback stays on an upward trajectory,” commented Konstantinos Anthis at ADS Securities.

S&P 500 daily chart