Wall St indexes climb as US, Iran halt attacks; Comcast surges on spin-off plan

June 29 (Reuters) – Wall Street’s main indexes gained on Monday as recent hostilities between the U.S. and Iran ​eased, while Comcast shares soared on plans to split into two companies.

Iranian and U.S. technical teams working to implement ‌an interim peace deal are expected to meet in Doha in the coming days, a source told Reuters.

The latest push to bring the conflict to an end follows several rounds of diplomacy that appeared to bring the sides close to an agreement, before the negotiations stalled. Meanwhile, occasional flare-ups in hostilities have kept ​alive the risk of a broader regional escalation.

“The scattered conflict with Iran continues, seemingly following the established pattern of heightened ​tensions into the weekend before those are resolved ahead of Monday’s market open,” William Blair’s macro analyst Richard ⁠de Chazal said.

At 11:45 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI), opens new tab rose 242.26 points, or 0.47%, to 52,118.37, the S&P 500 (.SPX), opens new tab gained ​57.17 points, or 0.78%, to 7,411.19 and the Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC), opens new tab gained 345.87 points, or 1.36%, to 25,641.58.

Five of 11 major S&P 500 sector ​indexes were in the green. Communications services (.SPLRCL), opens new tab led gains with a 2.9% jump, with Comcast (CMCSA.O), opens new tab advancing 6.4% after the media and cable provider said it plans to separate into two independent publicly traded companies through a tax-free spinoff of NBCUniversal and Sky.

RBC Capital Markets raised its 12-month target for the S&P 500 index (.SPX), opens new tab to ​8,150 from 7,900, citing earnings strength and a supportive macro backdrop.

The earnings season is set to begin in the coming weeks, marking ​the next major test for stocks this year.

“The 21% S&P 500 return over the past 12 months has been driven entirely by earnings, making the ‌upcoming Q2 ⁠2026 reporting season an important catalyst for the forward trajectory of the market,” Ben Snider, chief U.S. equity strategist at Goldman Sachs, said in a note.

Concerns about AI spending have injected an additional dose of uncertainty into the market.

A selloff last week in investor favorites such as semiconductors and the so-called Magnificent Seven drove the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 to weekly losses. The blue-chip Dow ​Jones held up better than the ​other Wall Street benchmarks last ⁠week, gaining 0.6%.

On Monday, the information technology index (.SPLRCT), opens new tab added 0.9% and was poised to snap a five-session losing streak.

Traders are also expecting at least one rate hike by the Federal Reserve this year to ​keep inflation under control, according to data compiled by LSEG. The June jobs data, which is ​expected later this ⁠week, could affect the expectations.

SpaceX (SPCX.O), opens new tab rose 2.3% after Nasdaq said the newly listed company will be added to the Nasdaq 100 index on July 7. Google parent Alphabet (GOOGL.O), opens new tab gained 4.4% as it kicked off its first day as a Dow component.

On the other hand, Martin Marietta Materials (MLM.N), opens new tab fell 6.4% ⁠after it ​said it would merge with limestone supplier Lhoist North America in a deal worth $13.5 billion.

Declining ​issues outnumbered advancers by a 1.05-to-1 ratio on the NYSE, while on the Nasdaq, advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.01-to-1 ratio.

The S&P 500 posted no new 52-week ​highs and no new lows, and neither did the Nasdaq Composite.