S&P 500 Holds Near Record High as Oil Prices Ease: Markets Wrap
(Bloomberg) — Hopes for diplomatic efforts to revive energy flows through the Strait of Hormuz sent oil prices lower, easing inflation angst and leaving stocks near their all-time highs.
While the S&P 500 was little changed, most of its companies advanced. A closely watched gauge of chipmakers rose for a sixth straight day, poised for the longest winning streak since April. A measure of big banks lost 1.8%. Brent crude dropped to around $99 a barrel. Treasuries and the dollar fluctuated.
President Donald Trump is addressing the UN General Assembly in New York. There has been speculation that he may meet with his Iranian counterpart Masoud Pezeshkian on the sidelines — though US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said he didn’t think such a meeting had been scheduled.
“Today focus will stay on geopolitics and if there’s any confirmation of progress towards a ceasefire between the US and Iran, look for oil and yields to fall further and for stocks to rally,” said Tom Essaye at The Sevens Report.
Oil has rallied more than 60% this year as the Middle East conflict disrupted shipments through the world’s most important energy chokepoint. While millions of barrels a day are crossing Hormuz, flows remain below pre-war levels.
“What happens this week may become critical for the direction of crude oil prices over the medium term,” said Thierry Wizman at Macquarie Group. “That’s because the key actors in the US-Iran War will be having meetings in New York, starting today.”
Agreements and accords that come out of those meetings may determine whether the War continues and intensifies or whether an off-ramp is found, he added.
Traders also kept a close eye on the latest remarks from Federal Reserve officials.
Fed Bank of Boston President Susan Collins said she supported last week’s decision to raise interest rates, which she said would help bring inflation back to the central bank’s 2% target.
“A somewhat more restrictive federal funds rate will help ensure that inflation durably returns to target,” Collins wrote in a LinkedIn post on Tuesday. “With the labor market on a better footing, monetary policy can focus on a timely return to price stability, especially after five and a half years of too high inflation.”
Meantime, her New York counterpart John Williams said the shift to central clearing for US Treasuries and Treasury-collateralized repurchase agreements was ahead of schedule.
Corporate Highlights:
Anthropic PBC Chief Executive Officer Dario Amodei is set to brief the United Nations Security Council on Wednesday alongside OpenAI CEO Sam Altman during a meeting dedicated to the future of artificial intelligence. Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. is rolling out what it calls China’s most powerful AI chip, an accelerator to compete with Nvidia Corp. and underpin a massive expansion of data-center capacity in coming years. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. has emerged as the lead bidder to acquire a credit manager that oversees $37 billion as the bank revs up its dealmaking pace. Peloton Interactive Inc. introduced three new treadmills that will go on sale Oct. 1, including its most affordable model to date, marking a deeper push into a segment that it considers crucial to a long-promised turnaround. Viking Therapeutics Inc.’s dual-action obesity shot helped patients lose weight and keep it off, even after they cut their dosing schedule in a small, exploratory study. What Bloomberg strategists say…
“Leadership has rotated decisively back toward semiconductors and hyperscalers, giving the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 enough to keep pushing higher without signs of an outright upside chase, but a more convincing rally requires broader participation.”
—Michael Ball, Macro Strategist, Markets Live. For the full analysis, click here.
Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
The S&P 500 was little changed as of 10:29 a.m. New York time The Nasdaq 100 rose 0.6% The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.4% The Stoxx Europe 600 rose 0.4% The MSCI World Index was little changed Currencies
The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed The euro fell 0.1% to $1.1449 The British pound was little changed at $1.3356 The Japanese yen was little changed at 157.25 per dollar Cryptocurrencies
Bitcoin fell 1.1% to $86,053.23 Ether fell 1.5% to $2,743.09 Bonds
The yield on 10-year Treasuries was little changed at 4.95% Germany’s 10-year yield declined one basis point to 3.45% Britain’s 10-year yield was little changed at 5.21% Commodities
West Texas Intermediate crude fell 1.2% to $94.62 a barrel Spot gold fell 0.4% to $4,327.87 an ounce ©2026 Bloomberg L.P.
