Oil prices jump after Netanyahu announcement; stocks dip

By Caroline Valetkevitch

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices rallied on Monday after Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Iran had lied about pursuing nuclear weapons after signing a 2015 deal with global powers, while global stock indexes dipped with the S&P 500 led down by losses in technology.

Netanyahu said Iran had continued to preserve and expand its nuclear weapons knowledge after the deal.

U.S. President Donald Trump has until May 12 to decide whether to restore sanctions on Iran that were lifted after the 2015 agreement over its nuclear programme.

U.S. crude rose 0.87 percent to $68.69 per barrel and Brent was last at $74.79, up 1.36 percent.

 

MSCI's all-country index of global equities <.MIWD00000PUS> shed 0.15 percent,

"The immediate worry would be that the Trump administration ditches the Iran deal, causing oil prices to go up... but the bigger (issue) is - would it lead to a larger confrontation militarily in the Mideast," said Bruce Bittles, chief investment strategist at Robert W. Baird & Co in Sarasota, Florida.

In the U.S. equity market, top tech names including Microsoft Corp were among the biggest weights on the S&P 500.

Earnings and deal news provided some support. Starting off another busy week for first-quarter earnings, McDonald Corp's reported a better-than-expected rise in sales and its shares jumped 4.3 percent. Apple Inc is set to report on Tuesday.

Reports of big M&A deals included U.S.-based Marathon Petroleum Corp's agreement to buy Andeavor and a tie-up between British supermarket chains Sainsbury's and Walmart Inc's ASDA.[nL8N1S70YQ]

"The market doesn't have a lot of upside momentum going. It rallies for a day or two but it just doesn't follow through, and that's been the case since the January-February correction," Bittles said.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average <.DJI> fell 58.48 points, or 0.24 percent, to 24,252.71, the S&P 500 <.SPX> lost 13.56 points, or 0.51 percent, to 2,656.35 and the Nasdaq Composite <.IXIC> dropped 41.56 points, or 0.58 percent, to 7,078.24.

The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index <.FTEU3> rose 0.21 percent. The MSCI global stock index was on track for a gain for April, its first positive month since January.

Friday's seemingly successful summit between the leaders of North and South Korean added to positive market sentiment.

In the U.S. bond market, the U.S. Treasury yield curve flattened for a third straight session after U.S. economic data missed expectations.

The yield gap between U.S. 5-year notes and U.S. 30-year bonds narrowed to 27.20 basis points >, the lowest spread in more than six years.

Data showed U.S. personal income rose just 0.3 percent in March, compared with expectations of 0.4 percent.

Benchmark 10-year Treasury notes > last rose 4/32 in price to yield 2.9438 percent, from 2.957 percent late on Friday.

Weaker-than-expected German data hurt the euro against the U.S. dollar.

German monthly retail sales unexpectedly dropped in March, dampening cheer around a consumer-led upswing in Europe's biggest economy. Regional data showed annual inflation in four German states steady in April.

The dollar index <.DXY> rose 0.27 percent, with the euro > down 0.35 percent to $1.2086.

The Federal Reserve is also due to meet this week, and while no rate hike in benchmark U.S. interest rates is expected, investors will look for clues on the future pace of increases.

For Reuters Live Markets blog on European and UK stock markets open a news window on Reuters Eikon by pressing F9 and type in 'Live Markets' in the search bar.

(Reporting by Caroline Valetkevitch; Additional reporting by Karen Brettell in New York, Abhinav Ramnarayan in London, and Sruthi Shankar in Bengaluru; editing by James Dalgleish and Lisa Shumaker)