June 16 (Reuters) - U.S. stock indexes rose on Monday as oil prices fell after the Israel-Iran attacks left crude production and exports unaffected, allaying investor concerns ahead of a central bank policy meeting.
Crude prices , retreated more than 3% on reports that Iran is seeking an end to hostilities with Israel, raising the possibility of a truce and easing fears of a disruption to crude supplies from the region. Oil prices surged more than 7% on Friday after Israel began bombing Iran.
Tehran has asked Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Oman to press U.S. President Donald Trump to use his influence with Israel to agree to an immediate ceasefire, in return for Iran's flexibility in nuclear negotiations, sources told Reuters.
This follows a Wall Street Journal report earlier in the day that Iran was urgently signaling that it sought an end to hostilities.
"The market has already priced in some of the worst fears in terms of the energy markets getting disrupted, or this kind of spreading to be a wider conflict. So now, people are just buying the dip," said Chris Zaccarelli, chief investment officer at Northlight Asset Management.
Focus will shift to the U.S. Federal Reserve's monetary policy decision on Wednesday, when policymakers are widely expected to keep interest rates unchanged.
Money markets showed traders pricing in about 48 basis points of rate cuts by the end of 2025, with a 56% chance of a 25-bps reduction in September, according to CME Group's Fedwatch tool.
Key data expected this week includes monthly retail sales, import prices and weekly jobless claims.
At 11:46 a.m. ET the Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI), rose 409.76 points, or 0.97%, to 42,607.55, the S&P 500 (.SPX), gained 66.23 points, or 1.11%, to 6,043.19, and the Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC), gained 300.92 points, or 1.55%, to 19,707.75.
Nine of the 11 major S&P 500 sub-sectors rose, with information technology (.SPLRCT), and financials adding 1.7% each. Energy (.SPNY), was down 0.7%.
The Philadelphia SE Semiconductor index (.SOX), advanced 3.1%.
Advanced Micro Devices (AMD.O), rose 9.5%, Super Micro Computer (SMCI.O), gained 5.8% and Palantir Technologies (PLTR.O), was up 3.8%.
Most megacap and growth stocks rose. Meta (META.O), advanced 2.9% on plans to roll out new WhatsApp updates over the next few months and Nvidia (NVDA.O), was up 2.7%.
UPS (UPS.N), and FedEx (FDX.N), edged up about 1% after the Trump Organization launched a self-branded mobile network, dubbed Trump Mobile, and named the companies as shipping partners.
Shares of Sarepta Therapeutics (SRPT.O), plunged 45% after the company disclosed a second case of a patient dying due to acute liver failure after receiving its gene therapy for a rare form of muscular dystrophy.
U.S. Steel (X.N), rose 5.1% after Trump approved Nippon Steel's (5401.T), $14.9 billion bid for the company.
Cisco (CSCO.O), gained 2.3% after Deutsche Bank upgraded the communications equipment maker to "buy" from "hold".
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 3.24-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and by a 2.53-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P 500 posted 16 new 52-week highs and five new lows, while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 66 new highs and 86 new lows.
Reporting by Sruthi Shankar and Sukriti Gupta in Bengaluru; Editing by Pooja Desai
