Wall Street eyes higher open as investors monitor US-Iran peace talks
Wall Street rises, Dow hits record high as Middle East hopes lift sentiment
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Wall Street rises, Dow hits record high as Middle East hopes lift sentiment
Chibuike Oguh, Shashwat Chauhan and Medha Singh
Reuters
Updated May 22, 2026, 4:04 p.m. ET
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U.S. stocks rose on Friday, with the Dow reaching an intraday record high, as investors cheered signs of progress in talks to end the Middle East conflict and a strong corporate earnings season.
The S&P 500 .SPX notched its eighth consecutive weekly gain, its longest since a nine-week streak ended in December 2023.
Semiconductor stocks, which have driven recent Wall Street gains, were mostly higher. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index .SOX rose, lifted by gains in Qualcomm QCOM.O, while Nvidia NVDA.O slipped.
The U.S. has made some progress toward a deal with Iran, though more work remains, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Friday. Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman said differences between the two sides remained deep.
"Earnings season looked really good and the economic data, save a few outliers, looked pretty solid so fundamentally the picture looks really solid," said James St. Aubin, chief investment officer at Ocean Park Asset Management in Santa Monica, California.
"The war has been one major speed bump along the road for at least the equity market but I think the headlines today looked encouraging and that was probably helping at the margin."
According to preliminary data, the S&P 500 .SPX gained 27.84 points, or 0.36%, to end at 7,473.56 points, while the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC gained 50.87 points, or 0.20%, to 26,346.27. The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose 294.90 points, or 0.59%, to 50,580.56.
Shares of U.S. computer makers surged following strong results from China's Lenovo Group 0992.HK, which reported a better-than-expected 27% jump in quarterly revenue. Dell Technologies DELL.N hit a record high while HP Inc HPQ.N gained.
Long-dated government bond yields were lower, having pulled back from recent highs. The yield on benchmark U.S. 10-year notes US10YT=RR fell 2.6 basis points to 4.558%.
"The bond market seems to be cooling off and yields are coming down from where they were starting to peak earlier this week and I think that's very encouraging too," St. Aubin said.
Kevin Warsh was sworn in as chair of the Federal Reserve on Friday, taking the helm at a pivotal moment for the U.S. economy as higher gasoline prices tied to the Iran conflict fuel inflation and weigh on consumer sentiment.
Estée Lauder EL.N rose after the cosmetics maker and Spanish perfumery Puig PUIGb.MCended talks for a potential merger.
Workday WDAY.O gained after the human resources software provider exceeded expectations for first-quarter revenue and profit.
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