By Ragini Mathur and Purvi Agarwal
Oct 12 (Reuters) - US stock indexes were mixed on Monday, with tech heavyweights facing heat as oil prices touched their highest in about two weeks ahead of big bank earnings and inflation data due later in the week that could potentially steer the Fed's policy path.
Brent crude futures were trading at more than $106 a barrel after deadly strikes on Riyadh's international airport over the weekend. [O/R]
The rise was contained, however, after President Donald Trump
said Ukraine and Russia had agreed to halt attacks on each other's energy facilities following a US diesel-supply deal with Moscow. Details of what this entails were not clear and the plan faces opposition in Washington.
S&P 500 communication services rose 1.5% on Monday, with Meta adding 3.9%, while energy added 1.4%.
The gains were countered by a 1% decline in technology majors on the benchmark index. Chip stocks bore the brunt of the selling, with the Philadelphia semiconductor index plunging 2.7% to a three-week low.
Microsoft rose 1.4%, pushing its market capitalization above $4 trillion for the first time in a year after announcing plans for a major deployment of its own AI chips. Salesforce was up 2.4% after BofA Global Research upgraded the stock twice to "buy" from "underperform."
Both stocks helped lift the Dow to a near three-week high.
At 11:28 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 236.45 points, or 0.46%, to 51,891.40, the S&P 500 fell 4.04 points, or 0.05%, to 7,807.50, and the Nasdaq Composite lost 90.40 points, or 0.33%, to 27,275.77.
Corporate results now take center stage, with major US banks including Goldman Sachs, Citigroup and JPMorgan Chase set to kick off results on Tuesday.
S&P 500 earnings are expected to surge 30.6% in the third quarter, according to LSEG IBES data.
"That earnings resilience helps explain why stocks have remained so strong," said Bret Kenwell, US investment analyst at etoro.
"Growth has been powerful enough to keep valuations in check and allow investors to look past higher yields, interest rates, and inflation. Another strong quarter could reinforce the bull narrative intact into year-end, while a disappointment could catalyze a broader pullback."
Treasury yields climbed to 24-year highs earlier this month as elevated energy prices stoked inflation concerns, potentially keeping policymakers hawkish. The US Treasury market is closed for Columbus Day on Monday.
Recent data showing a lower-than-expected rise in inflation and weaker jobs growth has knocked off bets on imminent rate hikes, resulting in greater scrutiny for US consumer and producer inflation data as well as retail sales figures due later in the week.
Markets are pricing in just a 19% chance the US Federal Reserve will raise interest rates this month, according to CME's FedWatch tool.
Cleveland Fed President Beth Hammack's comments will be parsed later in the day.
In shares, Chipotle Mexican Grill dipped 4.6% after Starbucks said it was not buying the burrito chain.
EBay gained 5.8% after Morgan Stanley added the stock to its top-pick list.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.03-to-1 ratio on the NYSE, while declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 1.47-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P 500 posted 10 new 52-week highs and 5 new lows, while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 38 new highs and 231 new lows.
(Reporting by Ragini Mathur and Purvi Agarwal in Bengaluru; Editing by Pooja Desai)
