Stock market today: Dow, S&P 500 climb as Trump says Hormuz deal is close, Nasdaq gives up gains
US stocks rose modestly on Wednesday after a searing rally, as investors weighed earnings from SpaceX (SPCX) and AMD (AMD) and President Trump’s comments that a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz could happen as early as Wednesday.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) slipped into the red. The S&P 500 (^GSPC) pared gains to 0.1%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) climbed 0.8% after the indexes closed at record highs.
A rise in Asian markets overnight lifted global markets in early trading as investors assessed earnings and cheered diplomatic efforts for another peace deal between the US and Iran — no matter how fragile. South Korea’s KOSPI (^KS11) index led gains, rising almost 4%.
SpaceX didn’t receive the Wall Street welcome it was looking for in its first report as a public company. Shares of the Elon Musk-led company dropped 8% after its AI spending overshadowed a second quarter earnings beat. SpaceX stock faces additional pressure this week when 20% of shares will be unlocked for trading.
Shares of major chipmaker AMD also declined despite reporting an earnings beat and a strong outlook, as analysts wanted “exceptional results” and not merely “excellent ones.”
Oil prices, meanwhile, declined for the third day in a row after Trump hinted that the US was nearing a deal with Iran. “It could happen. Tomorrow or the next day,” Trump said, per Bloomberg. Global benchmark Brent crude (BZ=F) edged lower to $78 per barrel, while WTI crude oil futures (CL=F), the US benchmark, fell to around $75 per barrel.
On Tuesday, Qatar said a proposal had been drafted between the US and Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a critical waterway for a fifth of the world’s oil. Iran is also reportedly considering allowing European countries to remove mines from the strait, adding to confidence that shipping traffic in the region could normalize.
Investors were also focusing on quarterly reports from Eli Lilly (LLY), Novo Nordisk (NVO), Western Digital (WDC), Sandisk (SNDK), Walt Disney (DIS), Shopify (SHOP), and Uber Technologies (UBER) on Wednesday.
