S&P 500 Hits Record on Iran Peace Hopes: Markets Wrap
(Bloomberg) — US stocks hit an all-time high following a rally powered by optimism around a potential peace deal in the Middle East, with investors eyeing confirmation of new talks and a fresh spate of corporate earnings.
The S&P 500 was up 0.5%, putting it just above a late-January record. Bank of America Corp. and Morgan Stanley rose as their equity traders posted strong revenue beats. The tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 was up 0.7%.
Stock and bond markets are increasingly pricing out the risk premium built up since the conflict started in late February as the US and Iran look to arrange a second round of negotiations.
The US and Iran are considering extending their ceasefire that ends on Tuesday by another two weeks to allow more time to negotiate a peace agreement, with mediators trying to set up technical talks to resolve the most contentious issues, according to a person familiar with the matter.
“The absence of pain set off this latest market run and the technicals support stocks and bonds rallying further,” wrote Steven Blitz, chief US economist at TS Lombard. Once the impact of the war is clearer, “one more reassessment of the outlook will be in order.”
Brent was less than 1% higher at around $95 a barrel as the US pressed ahead with a naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz. Treasuries fell, with the two-year yield rising to 3.77%. The dollar was flat while gold fell toward $4,800 an ounce.
Investors have been piling back into stocks even as there remains little clarity around the trajectory of the war, which has choked off around a fifth of global crude supplies and risked a surge in inflation that could still prompt central banks to tighten policy.
Technology shares in particular have been snapped up after lagging the market for much of the year, with the Nasdaq 100 notching its longest stretch of daily wins since 2021. In just the past two sessions, a popular exchange-traded fund that tracks the software industry is up 6.4%. Oracle Corp. has soared 18% and Microsoft Corp. and Palantir Technologies Inc. have gained 6%.
Robinhood Markets Inc. shares were up around 9% on Wednesday after the US Securities and Exchange Commission gave the go-ahead for sweeping changes to a restriction on day-trading activity by small investors.
Earnings Watch
Technical analysts, who study charts for clues on stock moves, said some indicators of market health are looking increasingly optimistic.
“While we believe it is prudent to maintain a healthy sense of skepticism regarding this headline-driven optimism, underlying breadth and trend indicators are improving off March lows, or at least until the next headline proves otherwise,” according to Craig Johnson at Piper Sandler.
With the earnings season now in full swing, investors will watch for signs of whether the conflict is denting the outlook for earnings and whether corporates and consumers are cutting back on spending amid the uncertainty.
“Earnings will be key for fundamental investors to step in and chase or fade,” said Emmanuel Cau, head of European equity strategy at Barclays Plc. With “stocks near year-to-date highs, it feels like easy gains are behind us and fundamentals should prevail again.”
What Bloomberg Strategists Say:
“US stocks have played a key role in the global equity rebound, with the S&P 500 once again climbing above the 7,000 milestone level. Yet valuations show they have not truly fully shaken off the shock. A return to pre-war multiples of 21.3x forward earnings implies a move past 7,200, or about 3% higher from current levels.”
— Tatiana Darie, macro strategist. For the full analysis, click here.
Corporate News:
Jane Street Group has taken an additional $1 billion stake in AI cloud services provider CoreWeave Inc. and plans to spend about $6 billion on the company’s technology offerings. Morgan Stanley’s stock traders joined the rest of Wall Street with a record-breaking first quarter. Bank of America Corp.’s traders pulled in the business’s highest quarterly revenue in more than a decade, riding a wave of volatility that pushed the firm’s stock-trading desk to an all-time record. Stellantis NV is discussing reviving a partnership with Dongfeng Motor Corp. that would involve joint car production in Europe and China, according to people familiar with the matter. ASML Holding NV raised its full-year sales forecast as the surge in global artificial intelligence spending fuels semiconductor production and boosts demand for the company’s advanced chipmaking machines. Hermès sales expanded at a disappointing clip as the Birkin bag maker was hit by the disruption caused by the conflict in the Middle East like many of its peers in the luxury goods industry. Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
The S&P 500 rose 0.4% as of 1:42 p.m. New York time The Nasdaq 100 rose 0.7% The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.3% The MSCI World Index rose 0.3% Currencies
The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed The euro was little changed at $1.1795 The British pound was little changed at $1.3569 The Japanese yen fell 0.2% to 159.05 per dollar Cryptocurrencies
Bitcoin fell 0.2% to $74,014.96 Ether rose 1.2% to $2,344.07 Bonds
The yield on 10-year Treasuries advanced three basis points to 4.28% Germany’s 10-year yield advanced two basis points to 3.04% Britain’s 10-year yield advanced three basis points to 4.81% Commodities
West Texas Intermediate crude rose 1.2% to $92.38 a barrel Spot gold fell 1% to $4,793.17 an ounce This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.
–With assistance from Isabelle Lee.
©2026 Bloomberg L.P.
