Wall Street rallies to records after oil prices ease and corporate
profits keep topping expectations
[May 06, 2026] By
STAN CHOE
NEW YORK (AP) — The U.S. stock market rose to records Tuesday after oil
prices eased and companies kept reporting bigger profits for the start
of the year than analysts expected.
The S&P 500 climbed 0.8% to top its prior all-time high set at the end
of last week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 356 points, or
0.7%, and the Nasdaq composite set its own record after rallying 1%.
Stocks got a boost after oil prices gave back much of their big jumps
from Monday. The price for a barrel of Brent crude, the international
standard, fell 4% to $109.87 after briefly cresting $115 on Monday,
though it’s still well above its roughly $70 price from before the war
with Iran.
U.S. military leaders said Tuesday that a ceasefire with Iran remains in
effect, even though Iran was blamed for attacks against the United Arab
Emirates, a U.S. ally, the day before. The U.S. military is meanwhile
trying to force open a path in the Strait of Hormuz, which would allow
oil tankers to resume shipments from the Persian Gulf and hopefully
bring down the price of crude.
Even with the war ongoing, the U.S. stock market has remained remarkably
resilient on its record-setting run. That’s in large part due to the
strong profits that U.S. companies have reported for the first three
months of 2026 despite the rise in oil prices since the end of February.
“This has been a ‘why ask why’ market,’” according to Scott Wren, senior
global market strategist at Wells Fargo Investment Institute. “You just
have to go with it.”
Even though many risks are still weighing on the market, “investors are
looking at earnings” and how much companies are spending on AI data
centers and other investments, he said.
DuPont’s stock rallied 8.4% after the chemical giant led another
cavalcade of companies reporting better-than-expected profits for the
latest quarter.
DuPont said its water technologies business felt some impact from the
war due to logistics disruptions in the Middle East. But it nevertheless
raised its forecasts for financial results over the full year.
Other winners included American Electric Power Co., which rose 1.8%, and
Cummins, which added 2.8%, after they likewise made more money during
the first three months of the year than analysts expected.
Pinterest jumped 6.9% after the online bulletin board topped Wall
Street’s first-quarter sales and profit targets as its number of active
monthly users jumped 11% to 631 million.
[to top of second column] |
Specialist James Denaro works at his post on the floor of the New
York Stock Exchange, Tuesday, May 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
 AB InBev likewise topped analysts’
profit forecasts, and it credited growth for its Corona, Stella
Artois and Michelob Ultra brands outside of their home markets,
among other factors. “Cheers to beer,” CEO Michel Doukeris said, as
the company’s stock that trades in the United States climbed 8.7%.
They helped offset a drop for Palantir Technologies, which fell 6.9%
even though it reported stronger results for the latest quarter than
analysts expected. Its stock has struggled this year on worries
about increased competition, like many software companies have. Its
stock is also coming off a huge run where it more than doubled in
each of the last three years.
All told, the S&P 500 rose 58.47 points to 7,259.22. The Dow Jones
Industrial Average added 356.35 to 49,298.25, and the Nasdaq
composite climbed 238.32 to 25,326.13.
In stock markets abroad, indexes were mixed in Europe. The CAC 40
rose 1.1% in Paris, but the FTSE 100 fell 1.4% in London. Many Asian
markets were closed for holidays, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell
0.8%.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 slipped 0.2% after the central bank raised
its benchmark interest rate to 4.35%, saying conflict in the Middle
East had sharply increased fuel and commodity prices that were
already adding to inflation.
In the U.S. bond market, Treasury yields eased following oil’s drop
in price and reports on the U.S. economy that came in mixed.
One report said growth for U.S. services businesses unexpectedly
decelerated last month, with some companies saying the war is
slowing spending. A separate report said U.S. employers were
advertising slightly more job openings at the end of March than
economists expected, an encouraging signal for the job market.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 4.42% from 4.45% late
Monday.
That’s still well above its 3.97% level from just before the war
began. The rise has made mortgages and other kinds of loans for U.S.
households and businesses more expensive.
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AP Writers Chan Ho-him, Matt Ott and Rod McGuirk contributed.
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