Stock market today: Dow, S&P 500 build on records as US-Iran tensions weigh on AI optimism

Yahoo Finance’s Dan Howley reports:

Microsoft (MSFT) is turning to AI to help it protect users from attacks and hacks powered by a new class of models capable of finding and exploiting software flaws faster than any person could on their own.

Part of that includes the company’s new Microsoft Security multi-modal agentic scanning harness, or MDASH, for short. The platform, which Microsoft says is in an expanded preview, is designed to use AI agents to scan for vulnerabilities in software that hackers can exploit.

Speed is a key component of cybersecurity. The faster a company can detect a flaw in its software, the faster it can fix it before hackers can take advantage of it.

“AI brings a lot of superpowers to defenders, but also AI in the hands of cyber attackers is a very powerful tool,” Vasu Jakkal, Microsoft CVP of security, told Yahoo Finance.

Read more here.

Cybersecurity stocks mostly edged lower on Tuesday ahead of Palo Alto Networks’ (PANW) earnings due after the bell on Tuesday.

Wall Street expects the security firm to post about $2.94 billion in revenue for its latest quarter, representing almost 29% in year-over-year growth.

Peer CrowdStrike (CRWD), which reports on Wednesday, also edged lower, while SailPoint (SAIL) gained almost 1%.

Wall Street has become increasingly bullish on cybersecurity plays as more AI agents require authentication and security.

The First Trust Nasdaq Cybersecurity ETF (CIBR) was on a tear last month, beating both the iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX) and the iShares Expanded Tech-Software Sector ETF (IGV).

A top executive at the commodity trading giant Vitol said US and European leaders haven’t yet acknowledged the severity of the oil crisis and ensuing supply shock driven by the war in Iran.

“In Europe and I think in the US, everyone is kind of asleep at the wheel and just carrying on life as normal,” Tom Baker, Vitol’s top leader in the Middle East, said at S&P Global’s Middle East Petroleum & Gas Conference in London on Tuesday, in comments reported by Bloomberg.

Futures on international Brent crude (BZ=F) and US WTI crude (CL=F) have both moderated over the past several weeks to sit under $100 per barrel. However, experts caution that the price has been kept lower than expected by releases of strategic reserves and drawdowns in commercial inventories.

Three months into the conflict, global oil stocks are approaching critical operational minimums, which, if surpassed, would likely push prices higher. Refined products such as diesel, gasoline, and jet fuel have already seen prices move much more significantly as supplies have dwindled, with no stable supply of crude oil to backfill them.

The US, where gasoline prices averaged $4.29 per gallon at the pump on Tuesday, is coming into summer driving season, which could see demand for gasoline and diesel spike further.

US job openings rose significantly in April, marking a nearly two-year high, while layoffs fell in a firmly bullish reading for the state of the labor market.

US job openings in April tallied 7.62 million, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, far outpacing estimates of 6.866 million openings and the previous month’s revised tally of 6.89 million openings.

The count of job openings is the highest since May 2024’s 7.78 million openings.

Meanwhile, layoffs fell to 1.69 million on the month from March’s count of 1.88 million, reinforcing the “no fire” aspect of what economists have called a “no hire, no fire” economy. The count of quits fell to 2.99 million from the previous month’s 3.16 million.

The professional and business services sector accounts for nearly all of the month-on-month increase, adding 668,000 jobs in April after losing 256,000 in March.

The financial activities sector led losses, losing 134,000 jobs on the month.

The US stock market opened on Tuesday on mixed footing as the strength of the AI trade ran up against uncertainty in the Middle East.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) rose 0.3%, while the benchmark S&P 500 (^GSPC) fell by 0.2%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) fell by 0.5%.

Leading Big Tech news on Tuesday was an $80 billion equity raise from Alphabet (GOOG) to fund its AI build-out. The stock moved lower on the news.

Oil prices eased on Tuesday after news that leaders of Israel and the terrorist group Hezbollah had negotiated a tentative ceasefire in Beirut, the capital of Lebanon, and President Trump said talks with Iran were progressing. Brent crude (BZ=F) oil futures are falling 0.3% to trade near $94.60 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate crude (CL=F) futures dropped below $92 a barrel.

On the economic data front, the JOLTS report at 10 a.m. will give investors the first of several major reads this week on the state of the labor market.

Dollar General (DG) beat estimates on earnings per share but missed on revenue, while Victoria’s Secret (VSCO) beat estimates on both the top and bottom lines. Palo Alto Networks (PANW) and Ulta Beauty (ULTA) will report after the closing bell.

Anthropic (ANTH.PVT) is expanding access to its carefully guarded Mythos model to approximately 150 additional organizations, the AI lab said Tuesday.

The new organizations were spread throughout sectors that “weren’t well-represented in [the] initial cohort,” including power, water, communications, and healthcare. The list expands the number of partners involved in Anthropic’s Project Glasswing to around 200.

Each new partner organization must pass a security clearance before gaining access to the Mythos model, which reportedly possesses advanced cybersecurity and hacking abilities that could pose serious threats to national security and other critical infrastructure.

Anthropic has said it is allowing key organizations access to the technology so that they can use the model to harden their own cybersecurity defenses. The initial cohort of roughly 50 partners has already found more than 10,000 “high or critical severity” security flaws, Anthropic said.

“What each partner has in common is that a successful attack on their codebase could be catastrophic,” Anthropic wrote. “For most partners, we estimate that a major attack could affect more than 100 million people, with important ramifications for both global and national security. “

Anthropic filed confidential paperwork with the SEC on Monday for a public offering, paving the way for what is expected to be one of the largest and most closely watched IPOs of the year.

Dollar General (DG) raised its profit outlook for 2026 on Tuesday, sending shares spiking by more than 5% in premarket trading.

The discount retailer, whose lower prices have brought wallet-conscious customers into stores as inflation has crept up, is now predicting annual earnings per share of $7.45, up from previous guidance of $7.35.

Dollar General kept its comparable sales growth target at 2.7%.

“We believe the essential nature of our offering ​and our expansive footprint position us well to navigate the current macroeconomic environment,” CEO ​Todd Vasos said in a statement.

The company reported first-quarter earnings of $2 per share on Tuesday, outperforming Wall Street estimates of $1.89 per share. Revenue of $10.78 billion missed estimates of $10.82 billion.