CNBC's Jim Cramer told investors that the deadly conflict between Israel and Hamas may not be driving Monday's market action.
"Let me put it this way: The market is about stocks, stocks are about companies, companies are about prospects, and there's nothing here that impacts those prospects, save the possibility of this blowing up into a war between Israel and Iran," Cramer said.
Amid a spike in oil and in defense stocks, major indexes saw modest gains, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average advancing 0.59%, the S&P 500 rising 0.63% and the Nasdaq Composite adding 0.39%.
Cramer wondered whether the reason could be possible investor desensitivity to Mideast conflict after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, or perhaps that investors saw no direct consequences to the U.S. economy.
Despite the sudden hostilities, he suggested Wall Street may be more concerned with inflation and with what the Federal Reserve will do next, saying that stocks were driven higher by Fed Vice Chair Philip Jefferson's Monday comments. Jefferson said the central bank needed to "proceed carefully" when deciding whether to further hike up interest rates.
"This is a situation where sadness begets more sadness, but no selling on its own," Cramer said, adding that Wall Street is currently focused on Jefferson's comments and corporate profits on the eve of earnings season.
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