Wall Street ends higher on tech rally; investors eye Beijing talks

Wall Street ends higher on tech rally; investors eye Beijing talks

By Stephen Culp and Ragini Mathur

Thu May 14, 2026  

Between solid economic reports coming in and optimism over the high-stakes summit in China, all three indexes went straight up to big 3-digit gains and stayed there. The S&P and Nasdaq set yet another record high and the Dow closed at less than ½ of 1% shy of its all-time record from February 10^th. The good news is that retail sales came in as expected. The bad news is that practically all of it was the result of gasoline prices.  

S&P 500, Nasdaq boosted by chips to record closing highs

S&P 500, Nasdaq boosted by chips to record closing highs

By Stephen Culp and Ragini Mathur

Wed May 13, 2026

There was a huge sell off in the morning on the Dow, with the index losing over 300 points by 11 a.m. and then bouncing back to only modest losses by close. But all those funds transferred to the tech sector with both the Nasdaq and S&P soaring all day, both indexes achieving new records, almost exclusively due to AI. Today’s AI comeback was enough for investors to turn a blind eye to the PPI data which was way higher than expected, showing the biggest increase in prices in four years.  

S&P 500, Nasdaq end lower as inflation, Iran tensions weigh

S&P 500, Nasdaq end lower as inflation, Iran tensions weigh

By Stephen Culp and Ragini Mathur

Tue May 12, 2026

All indexes way down in the morning, the Dow opening down 400, the Nasdaq down over 500 by 1 pm before everyone started a rebound to recoup most of the losses, the Dow even getting a little into the black.  The sell off was due to the combo triggers of the CPI report coming in worse than even the skeptics had forecast, CPI being out of joint because of disruption to crude supply, and continuing and increasing skepticism about the war with investors digging in for the likelihood of a prolonged conflict.  

Wall St inches to higher close, AI fervor edges out Iran impasse

Wall St inches to higher close, AI fervor edges out Iran impasse

By Stephen Culp and Ragini Mathur

Mon May 11, 2026  

It was a day of very choppy trading but still closing modestly in the black though all three indexes were much higher earlier in the day, the Nasdaq up over 100 points around noon before declining and closing up a mere 27. Tech is once again dominating with AI taking the lead sufficiently to edge out war jitters with Trump rejecting the latest Iran peace proposal and oil once again spiking as a result.  

S&P 500 and Nasdaq notch records, boosted by AI and earnings optimism

S&P 500 and Nasdaq notch records, boosted by AI and earnings optimism

By Noel Randewich

Fri May 8, 2026  

Another day of boffo earnings from AI companies sent the tech indexes way up again for the S&P and Nasdaq to notch yet another day of new records and for both indexes to have now six straight weekly gains. And again, with the Q1 optimism, money flowed out of the safety of industrials to finance the continuing tech rally. Even so, even the Dow has now logged two straight weeks of gains. With nearly 90% of the S&P now reporting, Q1 earnings growth is coming in at 29% annualized with 83% beating forecasts.  

S&P 500 ends down as chip stocks give up gains

S&P 500 ends down as chip stocks give up gains

By Noel Randewich and Sruthi Shankar

Thu May 7, 2026  

Was it a day of profit-taking after the string of recent records or was it more jitters over the war? In any case, all the indexes retreated today after starting the day modestly in the black but then declining steadily all day. The exception was the Nasdaq which began the day well into the black, up some 200 by 11 a.m. before starting its own decline. This was all despite the relatively good news of a continuing strong Q1, progress in the Iran peace talks, unemployment benefits coming in lower than expected, and better than expected private payrolls.  

Stocks hit records on tech earnings, oil slide from prospect of Iran deal

Stocks hit records on tech earnings, oil slide from prospect of Iran deal

By Lawrence Delevingne and Harry Robertson

Wed May 5, 2026  

For the second day, more reports from Washington expressing recent progress with Iran for a deal to end the war shot all three indexes way up again with even more impressive 3-digit gains than yesterday. AI champion AMD coming in after yesterday’s bell with a forecast above estimates jumped the stock price a whopping 18.6%. Is this optimism justified? As today’s expert put it, “It’s difficult to say how close to a deal we might be. Market participants aren’t going to wait for confirmation of good news and are essentially now front-running a positive outcome.”