S&P 500 rises as investors focus on Mideast peace hopes as oil prices dip

S&P 500 rises as investors focus on Mideast peace hopes as oil prices dip

By Sinéad Carew and Utkarsh Hathi

Thu May 21, 2026 

There’s just a whole lot of volatility going on with all three indexes firmly rooted in the red until 1 pm when everything zoomed back up again. Though Walmart disappointed with its Q1 and especially its announcement that higher prices were coming for the rest of the year, the market largely shrugged it off since Q1 is almost over and has overnight shifted its focus back to the war. That is somewhat curious given the fact that the U.S. and Iran are on opposite poles with the key issues but hope remains. As far as investors are concerned, the ceasefire, as fragile as it is, is holding and they’ll take good news where ever they can find it.  

Wall St climbs 1% with chip stocks rallying before Nvidia results

Wall St climbs 1% with chip stocks rallying before Nvidia results

By Sinéad Carew and Utkarsh Hathi

Wed May 20, 2026  

All eyes were in hot anticipation of Nvidia today and, even though the report was not coming in until after the bell, two other AI giants, Astera Labs and ARM Holdings, bolted up big time and that was more than enough to convince investors that Nvidia would soon be posting a similar result. Thus, all the indexes surged huge, both industrials and tech closing with big 3-digit gains. The war news, rate hikes and inflation have all gone on the backburner again and it’s once again all-out all-AI.  

Wall St ends lower as inflation worries push up yields

Wall St ends lower as inflation worries push up yields

By Sinéad Carew and Ragini Mathur

Tue May 19, 2026  

It was still another day of a selloff as T-bills go up, the rest of the market goes down as T-bills represent safety and stocks risk. And safety is what people went looking for today as there is little hope for a foreseeable end to the war and every reason to believe oil (now at $110/barrel) and consequently everything else will keep going up. Inflation fears are now at the forefront.  

Nasdaq leads equity losses with oil, borrowing costs in focus

Nasdaq leads equity losses with oil, borrowing costs in focus

By Sinéad Carew and Ragini Mathur

Mon May 18, 2026  

The continuing closure of the Strait of Hormuz sent oil prices surging again today and concerns that inflation will only continue to worsen caused a flight from back into industrials. But it was certainly not a smooth ride as, though tech was a steady downward curve, industrials were up and down all day going back and forth between highs just over 150 to a low of down about 170 right around 3 pm before zooming up again and closing at a plus 160. 

Global shares stumble while bond yields climb on inflation worries

Global shares stumble while bond yields climb on inflation worries

By Sinéad Carew and Sophie Kiderlin

Fri May 15, 2026

 

As today’s expert so accurately pointed out, “The market is finally paying attention to what the bond market and economic data is telling it. Inflation remains sticky and is potentially going to move higher in the months ahead.” And thus with this wake-up call and the scary inflation data that has come out this week, investors are moving away from the AI euphoria and all three indexes took a major dive right at the outset and stayed there all day, both the Dow and Nasdaq suffering enormous 3-digit losses and the S&P coming within a few points of the same.  

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.”  

S&P 500 and Nasdaq notch records as AI chip stocks surge

S&P 500 and Nasdaq notch records as AI chip stocks surge

By Noel Randewich and Utkarsh Hathi

Tue May 5, 2026  

With the White House reporting that the ceasefire with Iran is holding, yesterday’s concerns over who controls the Strait of Hormuz evaporated and all focus went back to Q1 which continues solid. Thus, it was a straight shot up on all the indexes with handsome 3-digit gains all around. Both tech indexes once again posted record highs and the S&P is poised for 28% in earnings growth, the highest quarterly growth in five years.  

S&P 500 falls from record high on Middle East worries

S&P 500 falls from record high on Middle East worries

By Noel Randewich and Niket Nishant

Mon May 4, 2026  

Two violent incidents in the Strait of Hormuz – a South Korean ship attacked while attempting entry and a U.S. Navy vessel forced by the Iranians to turn back – demonstrated loudly that Iran was still in complete control of the vital strait. This decisively shifted sentiment back towards the war, which investors have been trying to ignore, and all three indexes fell sharply, especially the Dow with a big 3-digit loss.  

S&P 500, Nasdaq end higher, notch weekly gains after earnings-heavy week

S&P 500, Nasdaq end higher, notch weekly gains after earnings-heavy week

By Stephen Culp and Niket Nishant

Fri May 1, 2026  

Q1 earnings reports, particularly in the tech sector, continued to come in strong on Friday, bolstering continuing confidence in AI as more companies begin claiming their huge AI investments are starting to pay off. As is usually the case, when tech gets exciting, money is taken from the safety of industrials so the Dow had a modestly down day while the S&P and Nasdaq took off. After ending a record-breaking month yesterday (the biggest in years), both the tech indexes registered a record-breaking week today with both hitting now six consecutive weekly advances, the longest winning streak in 1-1/2 years.