02:13 PM EDT, 03/23/2026 (MT Newswires) -- US benchmark equity indexes were higher intraday, while oil prices tumbled after President Donald Trump delayed military strikes on Iran's energy infrastructure.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 1.7% at 46,332.5 after midday Monday, while the Nasdaq Composite rose 1.5% to 21,965.9. The S&P 500 advanced 1.4% to 6,597.7. All sectors were in the green, led by a 2.8% jump in consumer discretionary.

West Texas Intermediate crude slumped 9% to $89.41 per barrel, while Brent slid 8.8% to $97.08.

In a social media post Monday, Trump said the US will not attack Iran's energy infrastructure for five days amid ongoing talks between the two countries. Trump had threatened to "hit and obliterate" Iran's power plants if Tehran didn't fully open the crucial Strait of Hormuz.

Iran's Foreign Ministry denied that Tehran was in talks with Washington, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing Iranian state media.

The US-Israel war with Iran, which started at the end of last month, has impacted several countries in the Middle East and resulted in the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

Norwegian Cruise Line ( NCLH ) shares were up 8% intraday Monday, the top gainer on the S&P 500, while Carnival (CCL) rose 6.4%, among the best performers on the index.

The global sports industry's liquidity could take a hit from event cancelations in the Middle East should the Iran war drag on, Morningstar DBRS said.

"We do not anticipate a material structural deterioration in the sports sector at this stage, but rolling cancellations over the next 12 months could lead to a short-term, punctual weakening of credit metrics, as replacement programming may generate lower margins; sponsors might have to reassess renewals or activation commitments; and fixed costs -- such as rights fees, production, and logistics -- are often still incurred," the rating agency said.

Chicago Federal Reserve President Austan Goolsbee said he's "fairly optimistic" that interest rates could go down by the end of this year, CNBC reported.

"But I wanted to see proof that we're back on an inflation headed to 2%," Goolsbee reportedly said. "This [war] definitely throws a wrench into the plans. We do need to see progress."

US Treasury yields were lower intraday, with the 10-year rate down 5.2 basis points at 4.34% and the two-year rate losing 6.3 basis points to 3.83%.

In company news, activist investor Elliott Investment Management has amassed a multibillion-dollar stake in Synopsys ( SNPS ) and intends to engage with the chip-design software maker to push the business to make more money from its software and services, news outlets reported Sunday, citing unnamed sources. Synopsys ( SNPS ) shares were up 3.9% intraday Monday.

Cencora ( COR ) said it will acquire EyeSouth Partners' retina business for $1.1 billion as the drug distributor seeks to expand its network of retina specialists. Cencora ( COR ) shares were down 1.2%.

PDD (PDD), Chewy (CHWY), GameStop ( GME ) and Cintas ( CTAS ) are expected to release their latest quarterly financial results later in the week, along with others.

Gold was down 3.5% at $4,414.70 per troy ounce, while silver lost 0.1% to $69.34 per ounce.