Wall Street Rallies to Records Amid Easing Oil Prices and Strong Corporate Profits

NEW YORK (AP) — The U.S. stock market surged to new records on Tuesday, buoyed by a significant easing in oil prices and a continuous stream of corporate reports showcasing profits for the start of the year that far exceeded analysts’ expectations.

Market Performance Highlights

• The S&P 500 climbed 0.8%, surpassing its previous all-time high set just last week.
• The Dow Jones Industrial Average added a robust 356 points, or 0.7%.
• The Nasdaq composite also established its own record, rallying an impressive 1%.

Oil Prices Recede, Providing Market Boost

Stocks received a substantial boost after oil prices relinquished much of their sharp gains from Monday. The price for a barrel of Brent crude, the international benchmark, fell 4% to $109.87. This came after briefly cresting $115 on Monday, though it still remains significantly above its pre-conflict price of approximately $70 before the war with Iran.

Geopolitical Context and Economic Resilience

U.S. military leaders confirmed on Tuesday that a ceasefire with Iran remains in effect, despite Iran being blamed for recent attacks against the United Arab Emirates, a key U.S. ally. Concurrently, the U.S. military is actively working to secure a passage in the Strait of Hormuz. This critical effort aims to enable oil tankers to resume shipments from the Persian Gulf, with the hopeful outcome of driving down crude oil prices.

Even with the ongoing conflict, the U.S. stock market has demonstrated remarkable resilience, continuing its record-setting trajectory. This strength is largely attributable to the robust profits reported by U.S. companies for the first three months of 2026, defying the rise in oil prices since late February.

“This has been a ‘why ask why’ market,” commented Scott Wren, senior global market strategist at Wells Fargo Investment Institute. “You just have to go with it.”

Despite numerous risks still weighing on the market, “investors are looking at earnings” and the substantial investments companies are making in AI data centers and other strategic areas, he added.

Corporate Earnings Drive Gains

• DuPont’s stock surged 8.4% after the chemical giant led a wave of companies reporting better-than-expected profits for the latest quarter. DuPont noted some impact on its water technologies business from the conflict due to logistics disruptions in the Middle East, yet it still raised its full-year financial forecasts.
• Other strong performers included American Electric Power Co., which rose 1.8%, and Cummins, which added 2.8%, both exceeding analyst expectations for their first-quarter earnings.
• Pinterest jumped 6.9% after the online bulletin board surpassed Wall Street’s first-quarter sales and profit targets, driven by an 11% increase in its number of active monthly users to 631 million.
• AB InBev also topped analysts’ profit forecasts, attributing growth to its Corona, Stella Artois, and Michelob Ultra brands outside their home markets, among other factors. “Cheers to beer,” stated CEO Michel Doukeris, as the company’s U.S.-traded stock climbed 8.7%.

These gains helped to offset a decline for Palantir Technologies, which fell 6.9% despite reporting stronger-than-expected results for the latest quarter. Its stock has faced challenges this year amid concerns about increased competition, a common theme for many software companies. Palantir’s stock is also coming off a period of immense growth, having more than doubled in each of the last three years.

Market Closings and Global Snapshot

All told, the S&P 500 rose 58.47 points to 7,259.22. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 356.35 to 49,298.25, and the Nasdaq composite climbed 238.32 to 25,326.13.

In international stock markets, indexes showed mixed performance in Europe. The CAC 40 rose 1.1% in Paris, while the FTSE 100 fell 1.4% in London. Many Asian markets were closed for holidays, and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng slipped 0.8%.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 declined 0.2% after its central bank raised its benchmark interest rate to 4.35%. The bank cited that conflict in the Middle East had sharply increased fuel and commodity prices, further contributing to inflation.

Bond Market and Economic Indicators

In the U.S. bond market, Treasury yields eased following the drop in oil prices and a series of mixed reports on the U.S. economy.

One report indicated an unexpected deceleration in growth for U.S. services businesses last month, with some companies attributing the slowdown in spending to the ongoing conflict. Conversely, a separate report revealed that U.S. employers were advertising slightly more job openings at the end of March than economists had anticipated, offering an encouraging signal for the job market.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 4.42% from 4.45% late Monday. This rate remains significantly above its 3.97% level from just before the conflict began, making mortgages and other types of loans more expensive for U.S. households and businesses.

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AP Writers Chan Ho-him, Matt Ott and Rod McGuirk contributed.
Stan Choe, The Associated Press

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