The US stock market rose to records on Tuesday after oil prices eased and companies kept reporting bigger profits than analysts had 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 $US109.87 after briefly cresting $US115 on Monday, though it's still well above its roughly $US70 price from before the war with Iran.
Iran ceasefire remains in effect
US military leaders said on Tuesday that a ceasefire with Iran remained in effect, even though Iran was blamed for attacks against the United Arab Emirates, a US ally, the day before. The US 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 help bring down the price of crude.
Even with the war ongoing, the US stock market has remained remarkably resilient on its record-setting run. That's in large part due to the strong profits that US companies have reported for the first three months of 2026, despite the rise in oil prices since the end of February.
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 Reserve Bank of Australia 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.
Mixed signals in new US economic data
In the US bond market, Treasury yields eased following oil's drop in price and reports on the US economy that came in mixed.
One report said growth for US 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 on 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 US households and businesses more expensive.
The Associated Press
