Equity benchmarks reversed earlier losses despite mounting Middle East tensions as President Donald Trump threatened sanctions and said he would demand compensation from Iraq for U.S. military forces if Baghdad follows through on draft legislation to push American forces out of the country following the killing of Soleimani. Separately, the president said that the U.S. is prepared to target 52 Iranian sites if Iran strikes any Americans or American assets. Soleimani was the head of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard's Quds Force, and the U.S. has said the strike was aimed at deterring future Iranian attacks orchestrated by the top general.
Iran said Sunday it would not abide by the uranium-enrichment limits set by the 2015 nuclear deal.
On the trade front, the Chinese delegation plans to travel to Washington on Jan. 13 for the signing of the US-China Phase 1 trade deal.
Big tech stocks led the gains to lift the market. Facebook and Amazon both rose more than 1%, and Netflix and Google-parent Alphabet advanced 3.1% and 2.7%, respectively.
Energy stocks closed also higher. EOG Resources jumped 4.1%, Occidental Petroleum rose 3.3% and Halliburton gained 2.5%.
Gold futures hit their highest level in more than six years on Monday. Gold settled at $1,566.20 per ounce, up $17, and it's climbed more than $40 since before Soleimani's killing.
Oil prices have climbed. Benchmark U.S. crude oil rose 22 cents to settle at $63.27 per barrel, adding to big gains from Friday. Brent crude, the international standard, rose 31 cents to $68.91 per barrel.
The dollar rose to 108.46 Japanese yen from 108.01 yen on Friday. The euro strengthened to $1.1192 from $1.1166. Treasury yields rose and recovered some of their sharp drops from Friday. The yield on the 10-year Treasury climbed to 1.80% from 1.78% late Friday.
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