S&P 500 Wavers as Oil Decline Offsets Chip Selloff: Markets Wrap

(Bloomberg) — Wall Street traders sent stocks wavering at the end of a jittery week, with a drop in oil prices and signs of strength in Corporate America’s profit machine offsetting a selloff in chipmakers.

While most shares in the S&P 500 rose, the index was little changed. A gauge of semiconductor firms sank 4.3%. The Nasdaq 100 fell over 1%. Brent slipped from $100 as crude was still managing to traverse Middle East trade routes despite the hostilities. The retreat in energy prices eased pressures on the Treasury market just days ahead of the Federal Reserve decision.

Geopolitical tensions remained high, but hopes for mediated talks between the US and Iran brought some relief. Pakistan is exploring a path toward reviving the negotiations, following a push initiated by China, according to Reuters. Meantime, President Donald Trump met with top advisers to decide whether to ramp up attacks, the New York Times reported.

The risk of further escalation is elevated, and a retest of oil-price highs from earlier this year cannot be ruled out should military actions intensify, according to Ulrike Hoffmann-Burchardi at UBS Chief Investment Office. Still, she expects energy flows through the Strait of Hormuz to recover over time.

“This means that inflationary pressure should subside as the year progresses, and that an aggressive tightening cycle remains unlikely in the near term,” she said.

“As we have seen multiple times in the past few years, equity markets tend to overreact to war developments, partly because war events tend to create uncertainty,” said Thomas Lee at Fundstrat Global Advisors. “But these periods of risk-off have been buying opportunities in the past, and we expect this to be the case again.”

Among the reasons for optimism, Lee cited a solid earnings season. About 85% of the S&P 500 companies that have reported results so far have exceeded profit estimates, the highest proportion in five years, according to data compiled by Bloomberg Intelligence.

Traders are getting ready for next week’s reports from megacaps including Microsoft Corp., Meta Platforms Inc., Apple Inc. and Amazon.com Inc.

On the economic front, US business activity expanded at the fastest pace in eight months as strong domestic demand for services offset cooling factory production, growing supply chain delays and rising costs. New-home sales climbed.

Corporate Highlights:

Intel Corp.’s quarterly report, which handily beat Wall Street estimates, still left a major question: how soon the chipmaker will line up outside customers for its factories. Qualcomm Inc., the biggest maker of smartphone processors, plans to increase prices by a percentage in the double digits, a move that’s likely to ripple through much of the tech industry. BlackRock Inc. has seen weaker-than-usual demand for a corporate bond sale tied to a Meta Platforms Inc. data center project in Texas, as investors grapple with concerns about excessive AI infrastructure spending. Alphabet Inc.’s Waymo is exploring options to exit its robotaxi partnership with Uber Technologies Inc., the latest relationship twist between two companies that have functioned as both rivals and partners. Anthropic PBC is rolling out a new AI model that is meant to handle workplace tasks adeptly and affordably, a key selling point as some customers grow more cost conscious and competition increases in China. Paramount Skydance Corp. and Warner Bros. Discovery Inc. have agreed not to close their blockbuster $110 billion deal until June, unless the legal fight over the merger is resolved sooner. American Express Co. said second-quarter expenses surged 12% as it spent more on marketing to attract and retain premium cardholders. 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 fell 1.15% The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.5% The MSCI World Index rose 0.1% Currencies

The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed The euro was little changed at $1.1370 The British pound was little changed at $1.3321 The Japanese yen was little changed at 163.85 per dollar Cryptocurrencies

Bitcoin fell 1.5% to $64,147.59 Ether fell 1.3% to $1,860.99 Bonds

The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined one basis point to 4.68% Germany’s 10-year yield declined three basis points to 3.17% Britain’s 10-year yield declined seven basis points to 5.03% Commodities

West Texas Intermediate crude fell 2.3% to $90.03 a barrel Spot gold was little changed ©2026 Bloomberg L.P.