US stocks close mixed; Apple reclaims most valuable company title

The US markets closed mixed on Monday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 closing in the red due to falling oil prices after the United States and Iran paused strikes. Chip stocks weighed on the NASDAQ Composite.

The Dow Jones ended 0.51% higher at 52,210.08, while the S&P 500 settled flat with a positive bias at 7,413.18, up 0.02%. The tech-heavy NASDAQ fell 0.18% to 24,932.08.

Brent crude, the international benchmark, descended 0.49% to $87.50 per barrel. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) declined 0.77% to $81.98 a barrel.

The US Federal Reserve will announce its interest rate decision on Wednesday. Investors expect the Kevin Warsh-led committee to hold interest rates but give clarity on the path forward.

Key earnings like Amazon, Meta, Microsoft and Apple will also influence the market direction this week.

Stocks of Sandisk, Seagate Technology and Western Digital (WDC) fell 11%, 4% and 4.21%, respectively.

iPhone maker Apple surpassed Nvidia to become the world's most valuable company after closing 1.17% higher at $336.91.

The focus will also be US President Donald Trump's meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, with the latter arriving in the US to attend the late Sen. Lindsey Graham's funeral.

"Our goal is clear: to safeguard Israel’s security, strengthen its power, and expand the circle of peace around us," Netanyahu said in a post on X.

Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 dropped 4.43% to 62,055 due to a sell-off in US technology and chip shares, which led to a drop in AI and semiconductor stocks in the index.

South Korea's Kospi declined 9.47% to 6,115.73 as SK Hynix slid more than 11%, while Samsung Electronics plunged more than 9%.

The Hang Seng rose 0.24% to 25,267, while the Shanghai Composite slumped 1.29% to 3,808.63.