Wall Street climbs, led by financials & airlines amid Middle East war; Uber jumps 5.6%

Major US stock indices rose on Tuesday, led by financial and airline stocks, while market participants weighed the impact of the Middle East war on global fuel prices.

Although crude oil values extended their recent climb, equities maintained an upward trajectory during early trading.

At 10:12 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 321.19 points, or 0.68%, to 47,267.60, the S&P 500 gained 36.45 points, or 0.54%, to 6,735.83 and the Nasdaq Composite gained 120.48 points, or 0.54%, to 22,494.66.

At the opening bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 139.1 points, or 0.30%, to 47,085.53. The S&P 500 rose 23.0 points, or 0.34%, to 6,722.35​, while the Nasdaq Composite rose 83.9 points, or 0.37%, to 22,458.032.

The spike in oil prices following the regional conflict has weighed heavily on the stock market over the past several weeks.

"Investors are becoming desensitized to the big swings in oil" as long as it stays in the range of the past days because "investors are already pricing in higher oil prices," said Adam Sarhan of 50 Park Investments, according to AFP.

Investors are simultaneously bracing for the Federal Reserve’s upcoming policy announcement on Wednesday. Analysts broadly anticipate that the US central bank to maintain current interest rates while gauging the economic disruptions caused by the ongoing war.

"There are too many moving parts in a regular economy and then on top of it, we have this tremendously impactful conflict, which will make it even more impossible for the Fed to discern any patterns right now," said Peter Andersen, founder of Andersen Capital Management, according to Reuters.

"I would expect the Fed to stay on hold and to have a very unremarkable transcript and press conference," added Andersen.

Key Stock Movers

Financial stocks recovered from significant losses in the previous week, during which investor confidence was shaken by concerns regarding the quality of private credit.

JPMorgan Chase climbed 1.2%, Goldman Sachs gained 1.97%, and Citigroup added 0.9%. Blue Owl Capital soared 5% and Ares Management rose 5.1%.

Shares of Delta Airlines and American Airlines surged more than 4% as executives reported robust US travel demand that helped offset a hit from higher jet fuel costs.

Uber Technologies shares jumped 5.6% after the ride-hailing app announcing plans to roll out robotaxis in 28 cities starting next year, powered by Nvidia's autonomous driving software.

Honeywell International stock fell 0.3% after the industrial giant said the West Asia conflict could impact its first quarter revenue.

Bullion Market

Gold prices were flat on Tuesday, as investors monitored the intensifying Iran conflict.

By 10:51 a.m. ET (1451 GMT), spot gold was little changed at $5,016.53 per ounce. US gold futures for April delivery rose 0.4% to $5,021.10.

Among other metals, spot silver fell 0.2% to $80.58 per ounce, platinum gained 1.2% to $2,138.52, and palladium rose 0.6% to $1,608.25.