Stocks climb to records
The US stock market rose to records on Tuesday as it caught up with climbs for others around the world from the day before, when President Donald Trump said negotiations were "proceeding nicely" with Iran on ending their war.
The S&P 500 climbed 0.6% after trading resumed following Monday's Memorial Day holiday and set an all-time high. The Nasdaq Composite rallied 1.2% to set its own record, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 118 points, or 0.2%, from its all-time high.
Stock markets in much of the rest of the world pulled back from their gains the day before, as fighting continued in the region and the US military said it carried out "self-defence" strikes in southern Iran, including on missile launch sites and boats placing mines. Markets have rallied in the past on hopes for a coming end to the war with Iran, only to see the conflict drag on.
Oil prices stay in focus
The price for a barrel of Brent crude, the international standard, rose 3.5% to $US96.67, but that reclaimed only some of its plunge from Monday. The price for a barrel of US crude oil, meanwhile, fell 2.8% to settle at $US93.89.
Oil prices have been at the centre of financial markets' action since the United States and Israel attacked Iran in late February. The ensuing war has closed the Strait of Hormuz and kept oil tankers pent up in the Persian Gulf instead of delivering crude to customers worldwide. That in turn has driven up oil's price and sent a wave of painful inflation around the world.
Hopes for a deal to improve the flow of oil helped lift stocks of companies with big fuel bills.
Micron joins the $US1 trillion club
Big technology stocks also continued their big runs. Micron Technology's stock leaped 19.3% to top $US895.88 and was the strongest force lifting the S&P 500 after analysts at UBS raised their 12-month price target for the stock to $US1,625 from $US535.
The analysts are forecasting continued strength in demand for computer memory, and Micron's stock has already more than tripled so far this year. It's the latest Big Tech company to top an overall value of $US1 trillion and joined such behemoths as Nvidia, Apple and Microsoft, which have each blown past $US3 trillion.
All told, the S&P 500 rose 45.65 points to 7,519.12. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 118.02 to 50,461.68, and the Nasdaq Composite climbed 312.21 to 26,656.18.
Bond yields ease
Lower oil prices helped pull yields down in the US bond market, which eased the pressure on Wall Street. The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 4.49% from 4.56% late Friday.
It's a respite following recent gains for yields in bond markets worldwide, which threatened to slow economies and undercut prices for stocks and all kinds of other investments. High yields have already forced the average long-term US mortgage rate to its most expensive level since last summer, and they could curtail companies' borrowing to build the artificial-intelligence data centres that have supported the US economy's growth recently.
Most big US companies have been reporting both profit and revenue for the start of 2026 above what analysts expected. The strong performances have helped vault US stocks to records, even with all the uncertainty around oil prices and the war with Iran.
US households have been feeling discouraged about the economy because of accelerating inflation, and a report on Tuesday said consumer confidence edged downward in May, though the number was not as bad as economists expected. It followed a report on Friday that said sentiment among US consumers hit its lowest level on record.
Global markets pull back
In stock markets abroad, many indexes slipped, including a 0.2% dip for Japan's Nikkei 225 from its all-time high set the day before.
South Korea's Kospi jumped 2.5% as it caught up with other markets following its closure on Monday for a holiday. London's FTSE 100 added 0.2%.
The Associated Press
