Summary
Wall Street rallied to more records Wednesday, with investors leaning on a stream of company results that topped analysts’ expectations for the start of 2026. The S&P 500 rose 73.89 points to 7,137.90, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 340.65 points to 49,490.03, and the Nasdaq Composite climbed 397.60 points to 24,657.57, according to The Associated Press.
The market’s advance was driven by major companies reporting fatter profits than analysts expected for the first three months of the year. GE Vernova jumped 13.7% after the company reported profit for the first three months of 2026 that exceeded analysts’ expectations, and the company also said its electrification business booked $2.4 billion in equipment orders for data centers during the quarter—more than it did during all of last year.
GE Vernova also raised its forecasts for revenue and other financial measures for the full year, and its results were linked to broader conditions in which the company said it was benefiting from the rise of artificial intelligence and electrification demand. The AP report said Boston Scientific climbed 9%, Boeing rose 5.5%, and Philip Morris International rose 7% after each of the companies delivered results for the latest quarter that were stronger than analysts expected.
Even with the equity rally, energy prices moved higher and helped temper enthusiasm on Wall Street. The price for a barrel of Brent crude oil—the international benchmark—rose 3.5% to $101.91, as markets weighed uncertainty about when the war with Iran could ease enough to allow petroleum to flow more freely to customers from the Persian Gulf again.
The AP report said the conflict has restricted traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway off Iran’s coast that oil tankers typically use to exit the Persian Gulf. It added that Iran fired on three ships in the strait and seized two of them on Wednesday, and that the standoff has raised doubts about when or if talks will resume to end the crisis.
The uncertainty comes after President Donald Trump extended a ceasefire but also said he was maintaining an American blockade of Iranian ports, the AP report said. The report said the blockade is intended to keep Iran from earning money by selling its own crude oil, further complicating prospects for negotiations.
In markets beyond oil and equities, global trading showed mixed signals. The AP report said indexes in Europe fell after a mixed finish in Asia, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 up 0.4% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng down 1.2%.
In the bond market, the AP report said Treasury yields held relatively steady despite the gain in oil prices. It reported that the yield on the 10-year Treasury remained at 4.30% late Thursday, after it had climbed the day before following comments from Trump’s nominee to chair the Federal Reserve, Kevin Warsh, about whether he promised Trump to cut interest rates.