U.S. stocks fall on Iran tensions; Nvidia, CrowdStrike gain

The S&P 500 was lower, with energy the only clear winner among its 11 sectors. West Texas Intermediate crude surged more than 2% to above $85 a barrel, while Brent exceeded $90. The rise in oil, together with Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh's speech on Friday at Jackson Hole suggesting interest rates may need to increase further, pushed the 10-year Treasury yield to 4.75%. Communication services led the decline. Jim Cramer said he was "increasingly disturbed" by the jump in oil prices, citing the negative effect on commodity-linked stocks.

Nvidia advanced more than 1% after announcing it is investing $3.5 billion in chip designer MediaTek. CNBC's Jeff Marks said the deal appears to be a potential competitive move against Broadcom, which has a leading position in custom AI chips. Cramer said he would prefer Nvidia buy back shares rather than invest in more companies. The stock had dropped 4.5% on Friday after Warsh's remarks, as higher rates could make financing AI data center projects more expensive and limit Nvidia's growth. CNBC noted that the Investing Club recently halved its Broadcom position.

CrowdStrike gained 4% after a post by AI podcaster and writer Dwarkesh Patel that CNBC said reinforces the thesis that enterprises need to spend aggressively on cybersecurity in the AI era. "The stock is up because that piece by Dwarkesh would be obviated by CrowdStrike being able to stop the agents," Cramer said. Palo Alto Networks also rose, and the Investing Club trimmed its position to pocket gains.

Eli Lilly agreed to acquire Merida Biosciences for up to $2.875 billion in cash, CNBC reported. Merida is developing a new class of therapeutics for serious autoimmune and allergic diseases, with a lead program for Graves' disease and thyroid eye disease in early development. CEO David Ricks told CNBC the deal fits Lilly's strategy of "investing in technologies that can really change other diseases like we've changed obesity." He added that Lilly has done more deals this year than all of last year, using its obesity drug windfall. Ricks also commented on PepsiCo's reported decision to drop GLP-1 coverage for employees, saying employers are already paying for obesity through related health costs, so treating it is a smarter play.

GE Vernova shares traded 2% lower after Elon Musk said on social media that SpaceX is developing in-house casting for natural gas turbine blades and vanes to accelerate production by up to 18 months. Howmet Aerospace also fell. Jefferies analysts said it could take at least four years before SpaceX could bring blades to market, citing the time needed for customer negotiations, industrialization and production ramp-up. CNBC's Investing Club said it expects the turbine bottleneck to persist, supporting GE Vernova's pricing power, but it is monitoring political pushbacks that could delay data center projects before the midterm elections.

Apple shares were lower on Tim Cook's last day as CEO, with John Ternus taking over Tuesday. CNBC also noted that no major earnings are due after Monday's close; Medtronic reports Tuesday, and economic data including manufacturing PMIs and the JOLTS job openings report are scheduled.