US equity indexes declined as crude oil jumped in midday trading Monday amid reports of a pending meeting between Iran and Russia to assess the escalating crisis in the Middle East.

The Nasdaq Composite fell 0.5% to 18,051.7 with the S&P 500 down 0.4% to 5,729.5 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropping 0.6% to 42,097.8. Utilities paced the decliners with only energy and technology posting advances.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil surged 3.6% to $77.06 a barrel on the anniversary of the terrorist attack on Israel by the Hamas militant group on Oct. 7 last year.

Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Friday to discuss the Middle East, CNN reported Russia's state-run media agency TASS as saying. Israel is coordinating with the US as it prepares to strike back at Iran but will make its own decisions, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant told CNN. "Everything is on the table," said Gallant, plans to meet with US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.

The CBOE Volatility Index, also known as the fear gauge for investors, jumped 8.6% to 20.85.

US Treasury yields rose intraday with the 10-year yield up 4.5 basis points to 4.03%, and the two-year rate climbed 5.9 basis points to 3.99%.

In company news, Supermicro (SMCI) shares jumped 13%, the top gainer on the S&P and the Nasdaq. The company shipped more than 100,000 graphics processing units in a single quarter and introduced a complete liquid cooling system for data centers that includes cooling towers and management software to support a reduction in power and hardware acquisition costs.

Barnes Group (B) agreed to be acquired by funds managed by affiliates of Apollo Global Management (APO) in a deal that values the industrial company at $3.6 billion.