US stocks gain after Friday sell-off, Mideast tensions temper

Some megacap growth stocks edged higher, with Alphabet , Amazon.com and Apple up between 0.3% and 0.7%.

Nvidia advanced 2.4%, rebounding from a 10% drop in the last session.

"This is an over-sold flash relief rally in the face of a market that has gotten a little bit ahead of itself. Traders are looking to scoop up a little bit of bargains," said Robert Pavlik, senior portfolio manager at Dakota Wealth.

Tesla, Meta Platforms, Alphabet and Microsoft will be in focus this week as the companies gear up to deliver their quarterly numbers. Their performance could further test the rally in U.S. stocks.

The risk-on mode was also supported by signs of easing tensions in the Middle East, as Iran's foreign minister said on Friday Tehran was investigating an overnight attack, adding that so far a link to Israel had not been proven as he downplayed the strike.

Equities have sold-off recently as market participants readjust their interest rate cut expectations from the U.S. Federal Reserve after a string of strong economic data signaling persistent inflationary pressures.

Money markets are now pricing in just about 41 basis points (bps) of rate cuts this year, down from about 150 bps seen at the beginning of the year, according to LSEG data.

On the docket this week would be the price consumption expenditure (PCE) index reading for March - the Fed's preferred inflation gauge - to further ascertain the monetary policy trajectory.

Fed policymakers were in a media blackout ahead of their latest policy meeting on May 1.

At 11:45 a.m. ET, the Industrial Average was up 49.62 points, or 0.13%, at 38,036.02, the S&P 500 was up 12.74 points, or 0.26%, at 4,979.97, and the Nasdaq Composite was up 39.31 points, or 0.26%, at 15,321.32.

Eight of the 11 S&P 500 sectors were trading higher, with financial stocks leading gains, up 0.5%

Among single stocks, Tesla fell 4.3% as the electric vehicle maker cut prices in a number of its major markets, including China and Germany, following price reductions in the United States.

Cardinal Health shed 5.2% after the drug distributor said its contracts with UnitedHealth Group's OptumRx, one of its largest customers, will not be renewed after they expire at the end of June.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.79-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and by a 1.23-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.

The S&P index recorded five new 52-week highs and four new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 20 new highs and 142 new lows.