Update: US Equity Indexes Jump as Growth Sectors Rally Hard While Crude Oil Sinks

01:21 PM EST, 11/09/2026 (MT Newswires) -- (Updates with index/price moves, macroeconomic data, and company/geopolitical news from the first paragraph.) US equity indexes jumped as consumer discretionary led a broad-based rally amid a sharp sell-off in crude oil prices. The Nasdaq Composite climbed 2.5% to 25,202.7, the S&P 500 advanced 2.3% to 7,549.5, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 2.2% to 52,404.2 after midday Monday. The CBOE Volatility index, VIX, also known as the fear gauge, slumped 21% to 20.20. All sectors rose, with consumer discretionary, communication services, and technology leading the gainers. The iShares PHLX Semiconductor Exchange Traded Fund, which has about $43.67 billion in assets under management, jumped 6.8%. President Donald Trump told CNN on Sunday that renewed US military attacks are "highly unlikely" if Tehran makes progress toward an agreement on its nuclear program and reopening the Strait of Hormuz. Qatar's prime minister is in Washington, DC, to meet Trump and Vice President JD Vance, with the Middle East on tenterhooks over fears of an imminent resumption of the Iran war, Al Jazeera, a Middle Eastern broadcaster, reported. The front-month West Texas Intermediate crude oil contract slumped 3.6% to $87.60 per barrel, and the global benchmark Brent sank 4.8% to $93.61 per barrel. Stocks are rallying, and "if there is an underlying new reason, it is that worries about slowing global growth are diminishing a bit with the decline in the price of crude oil," Thierry Wizman, global foreign-exchange and rates strategist at Macquarie, said in a note. Gold futures rose 0.9% to $4,111.40, and silver futures advanced 1.4% to $52.67. Nvidia (NVDA) launched an independent investigation following reports that CEO Jensen Huang may have been the target of a foreign intelligence operation after the executive admitted to having an extramarital affair. Its shares slumped 5.3%, the worst performer on the S&P 500, the Nasdaq, and the Dow. Coherent (COHR) reported fiscal Q1 adjusted earnings and revenue above market forecasts. Shares soared nearly 18%, the top gainer on the S&P 500. Ferguson Enterprises (FERG) reported better-than-expected Q3 results and raised its full-year sales growth outlook. Its shares surged nearly 13%, making it one of the biggest outperformers on the S&P 500. In economic news, wholesale inventories rose 0.7% in September, up from 0.6% in the advance reading and a 0.6% gain in August, versus consensus in a Bloomberg-compiled poll for an unrevised print.