Stock Rally Falters Near Record High as Oil Climbs: Markets Wrap
(Bloomberg) — A record-breaking rally in stocks took a breather as oil climbed after efforts to resume peace talks over the Iran war stalled, with traders bracing for a raft of megacap earnings and central bank decisions.
Following an advance that put the S&P 500 on pace for its best month since the depths of the pandemic, the gauge wavered. Brent crude topped $107.
The US and Iran failed to kick off a second round of peace talks this weekend despite a last-minute push by Pakistan, delivering a blow to Islamabad’s efforts to broker a settlement to end the two-month-old war.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told Russian President Vladimir Putin that bilateral relations reflect a strategic partnership and will continue to be strengthened, according to state-run Nour News.
Without much clarity on the geopolitical front, equity traders geared up for results from a handful of the world’s biggest technology companies.
Alphabet Inc., Microsoft Corp., Amazon.com Inc. and Meta Platforms Inc. are set to report Wednesday, followed by Apple Inc. a day later. Those firms are worth nearly $16 trillion combined, representing a quarter of the S&P’s market capitalization.
Meantime, the Federal Reserve, European Central Bank and peers in Japan, the UK and Canada are all scheduled to set interest rates this week, together deciding monetary policy for about half the world’s economy.
While investors expect them to all leave rates unchanged, markets will be alert to signs officials, including Fed Chair Jerome Powell and ECB President Christine Lagarde, are worried about the inflation threat posed by the biggest disruption to oil supply in history stemming from the US-Iran conflict.
Corporate Highlights:
Microsoft Corp. will no longer pay revenue to OpenAI and said its partnership with the leading artificial intelligence firm will not be exclusive going forward. Qualcomm Inc. climbed after a closely watched tech industry analyst suggested the chipmaker is working with artificial intelligence giant OpenAI on a smartphone. Verizon Communications Inc. surprised analysts when it reported a gain of mobile subscribers that overturned Wall Street expectations for losses. Domino’s Pizza Inc. reported a smaller-than-expected increase in comparable sales, citing growing competition and economic challenges. Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. has agreed to acquire New York-listed women’s health-care company Organon & Co., expanding its global reach with one of the biggest outbound deals by an Indian company. Eli Lilly & Co. agreed to buy closely held Ajax Therapeutics Inc. for as much as $2.3 billion in cash, part of its effort to build out a portfolio of breakthrough cancer therapies. United Airlines Holdings Inc. Chief Executive Officer Scott Kirby confirmed he approached American Airlines Group Inc. and that talks have ended, laying out the virtues of a merger that he said could have strengthened corporate America and won approval from regulators. Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
The S&P 500 was little changed as of 10:02 a.m. New York time The Nasdaq 100 fell 0.2% The Dow Jones Industrial Average was little changed The Stoxx Europe 600 was little changed The MSCI World Index was little changed Currencies
The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.2% The euro rose 0.1% to $1.1738 The British pound was little changed at $1.3545 The Japanese yen was little changed at 159.29 per dollar Cryptocurrencies
Bitcoin fell 0.6% to $77,773.17 Ether fell 2.2% to $2,312.71 Bonds
The yield on 10-year Treasuries advanced one basis point to 4.31% Germany’s 10-year yield advanced three basis points to 3.02% Britain’s 10-year yield advanced four basis points to 4.96% Commodities
West Texas Intermediate crude rose 1.5% to $95.80 a barrel Spot gold fell 0.3% to $4,693.47 an ounce ©2026 Bloomberg L.P.
