Stock Rally Falters on Conflicting US-Iran Signals: Markets Wrap
(Bloomberg) — Wall Street traders left stocks wavering amid mixed signals about prospects for a deal to end the war in Iran and revive energy flows through the vital Strait of Hormuz.
While equities remained at record highs, the S&P 500 closed little changed. US oil settled below $89. In late hours, Salesforce Inc. gave a tepid outlook. Snowflake Inc. raised its sales forecast and signed a $6 billion multiyear agreement to use Amazon.com Inc.’s cloud services and chips.
President Donald Trump said he was “not satisfied” in negotiations with Iran, damping expectations for an imminent breakthrough. The US denied an Iranian media report about a draft interim deal that said traffic through the Strait of Hormuz could return to normal within a month of it coming into effect.
Trump asserted that no one nation would control the waterway, highlighting a key sticking point in resolving the nearly three-month conflict. He didn’t indicate what steps the US would take to ensure free passage of vessels. The president also downplayed the possibility of Iranian sanctions relief.
“The situation surrounding Iran remains highly fluid as negotiations continue toward a more durable peace agreement,” said Adam Turnquist at LPL Financial. “A meaningful reopening of the Strait of Hormuz will likely be necessary for oil prices to move sustainably lower.”
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that “we’ll see over the next few hours and days whether progress could be made” on Iran. US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, Jared Kushner and Vice President JD Vance “have been very involved,” he noted.
“The stock market has enough confidence that a resolution with Iran will eventually come to light, even if it’s not immediate,” said Alexander Guiliano at Resonate Wealth Partners. “While it may seem like stocks have moved too fast, we saw a garden variety correction only two months ago, which helped to reset sentiment.”
Veteran market strategist Ed Yardeni dismissed concerns that US stocks are in a bubble, arguing the recent rally was driven by solid corporate profits rather than speculation.
“The big difference is earnings,” Yardeni told Bloomberg Television’s Surveillance. He coined the term “FEMO” — fabulous earnings momentum — to distinguish the current rally from “FOMO,” or fear of missing out, which he said is based on hope and hype rather than fundamentals.
Earnings growth powered by the AI boom will drive further gains in stocks, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. strategists led by Ben Snider said as they increased their year-end target for the S&P 500 to 8,000 points. The gauge closed at 7,520.36 on Wednesday.
Corporate Highlights:
Marvell Technology Inc. delivered a quarterly forecast that exceeded analysts’ estimates and boosted its outlook for the year, citing demand for chips used in AI data centers. HP Inc. gave a profit forecast for the current quarter that topped estimates, signaling that the company is weathering a dramatic increase in memory chip prices. Meta Platforms Inc. is selling consumer subscriptions to its Meta AI chatbot for the first time, a key step toward building a business that would help offset hundreds of billions of dollars in artificial intelligence investments by the company. Wall Street banks are predicting another banner quarter for their trading desks. Bank of America Corp. expects second-quarter revenue from sales and trading to increase about 15% from a year ago, Chief Executive Officer Brian Moynihan said Wednesday. And JPMorgan Chase & Co. CEO Jamie Dimon said markets revenue at his bank could rise 11%, which would make it the second-best quarter ever for that business. Boeing Co.’s chief gave investors an optimistic forecast for this year and beyond, as the US planemaker raises production on its workhorse 737 Max jet, nears certification on long-delayed models and expects a windfall from defense spending. American Airlines Group Inc. said it continues to see strong demand for travel, even as surging jet fuel drives up ticket prices and consumer confidence in the US edges down. Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
The S&P 500 was little changed as of 4 p.m. New York time The Nasdaq 100 was little changed The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.4% The MSCI World Index was little changed Currencies
The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed The euro was little changed at $1.1630 The British pound fell 0.1% to $1.3432 The Japanese yen fell 0.1% to 159.52 per dollar Cryptocurrencies
Bitcoin fell 1.3% to $75,033.37 Ether fell 1% to $2,055.29 Bonds
The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined one basis point to 4.47% Germany’s 10-year yield was little changed at 2.99% Britain’s 10-year yield declined two basis points to 4.86% Commodities
West Texas Intermediate crude fell 4.8% to $89.37 a barrel Spot gold fell 1.2% to $4,452.64 an ounce ©2026 Bloomberg L.P.
