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. 

Oil came down a little when Trump announced a pause on another promised attack on Iran and that Iran had sent a new peace proposal to Washington.  This week’s focus is on Walmart as the nation’s largest retailer, with its Q1 due on Wednesday with hopefully good metrics on consumer spending. But the overall consensus is that the market is just taking a breather for the second day from this huge AI-driven rally. Oddsmakers are now pricing in a 36.7% chance of a rate hike by December. Trading was brisk at 20.86 billion vs the 18.36 average. 

DJ: 49,526.17  -537.29        NAS: 26,225.15  -410.08        S&P: 7,408.50  -92.74           5/15

DJ: 49,686.12  +159.95       NAS: 26,090.73  -134.41        S&P: 7,403.05  -5.45             5/18

Mon 5-18-26 4:55 pm Nasdaq leads equity losses with oil, borrowing costs in focus | Reuters