Stock market today: Dow, S&P 500, Nasdaq gain as Wall Street braces for US-Iran update

LIVE Stock market today: Dow, S&P 500, Nasdaq gain as Wall Street braces for US-Iran update Amalya Dubrovsky and Rian Howlett Updated Fri, May 29, 2026 at 4:20 PM GMT+2 1 min read US stocks made slight gains as Wall Street eyed Dell's ( DELL ) earnings report and awaited an official update on US negotiations with Iran. The Dow Jones Industrial Average ( ^DJI ) gained 0. 4%, while the benchmark S&P 500 ( ^GSPC ) ticked up 0.

3%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite ( ^IXIC ) added 0. 2% after the major indexes touched record highs amid confidence in the AI trade and hopes of easing global tensions.

After the bell, Dell’s ( DELL ) results blew past investors’ expectations, lifting its stock as much as 40% higher. The company issued an upbeat outlook, indicating the rapid expansion of data centers amid the AI boom would continue to drive demand for its servers, which run on Nvidia ( NVDA ) chips. Since Trump signaled last week that the US is in the “final stages” of talks with Iran, markets have largely been upbeat.

The trend continued this week, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq hitting record highs three days in a row. An official update on the negotiations, however, remains elusive, even as reports circulate of a deal for a ceasefire extension reaching Trump’s desk. Markets are eager for relief on the US-Iran war front as the closure of the Strait of Hormuz exacerbates rapidly rising prices and drums up concerns about the Federal Reserve’s next moves on interest rates.

LIVE 7 updates 21 mins ago Grace O'Donnell Crude oil prices declined by nearly 20% in May, but executives warn prices may spike again soon Crude oil prices are tracking for significant monthly declines — falling to around $90 per barrel — as investors become habituated to the geopolitical tensions in the Middle East and perhaps even price in President Trump backing off from the war. Over the past month, futures for Brent crude ( BZ=F ), the international benchmark, have fallen approximately 18%, while those for West Texas Intermediate ( CL=F ), the US benchmark, have subsided 12%. However, we’re still a long way from recovering the lower pre-war oil prices in the $60s and $70s.

In fact, oil executives warned on Thursday that inventory pressures are likely to push prices higher going into the summer. “We're approaching unheard of inventory levels,” Exxon senior vice president Neil Chapman said at an investor conference. “I mean, really, really low levels.

You can debate whether that's going to hit those really low levels in two weeks or three weeks. But once you get to that point, then you'll see price shoot up. ” Chevron CEO Michael Wirth echoed that sentiment in his own presentation.

“The buffers and the shock absorbers are being steadily drawn down and the ability for the market to absorb this imbalance is drastically diminished today versus where we started,” Wirth said at Bernstein's Strategic Decisions Conference. “Over the next few weeks, we are likely to see those pressures flow through more directly to physical prices, and there's more upward pressure that I would expect as we get into June and certainly into July. ” Today at 1:37 PM UTC Jake Conley US stock market moves up at the opening bell The US stock market turned modestly higher at the opening bell on Friday as a strong earnings report from Dell ( DELL ) boosted investor sentiment in the face of Middle East uncertainty.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average ( ^DJI ), the benchmark S&P 500 ( ^GSPC ), and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite ( ^IXIC ) all rose roughly 0. 2%. Markets have been buoyed throughout the week by news that US and Iranian negotiators have agreed on a 60-day memorandum of understanding that would see the Strait of Hormuz reopened, pending President Trump’s signature.

Dell’s earnings have added wind in the sails of the tech trade, but with oil prices holding near $100, investors will be looking for relief from what has proven to be high and sticky inflation, just as Kevin Warsh prepares to lead the Federal Reserve. Today at 1:08 PM UTC Jake Conley The global oil market is running out of options to fix its supply crunch Three months into the war in Iran, oil stores are getting dangerously close to operational minimums, below which the global system can’t operate. While it’s unclear when those thresholds might be met, experts say it could come within weeks.

Since Iran began disrupting transit through the Strait of Hormuz shortly after the US and Israel began an airstrike campaign in late February, the global oil market has lost roughly 1 billion barrels of oil , per IEA data. Even with pipelines running through Saudi Arabia and the UAE to reroute oil around the waterway, the market continues to lose an additional 14 million barrels a day while the strait is closed, according to data from JPMorgan. Yet prices have remained contained around $100 per barrel as investors look for a quick resolution.

“The market is taking very seriously that the diplomatic process is going to be the eventual outcome, and that flows are going to resume,” Rebecca Babin, senior energy trader at CIBC Private Wealth, told Yahoo Finance. “We’re pricing flows that we hope will be coming in a month, but we haven’t really seen that uptick yet,” she said. Read more here.

Today at 11:46 AM UTC Grace O'Donnell GOP lawmakers' portfolios are migrating to Trump favorites like Intel and bitcoin Yahoo Finance’s Ben Werschkul reports: Republican lawmakers’ brokerage accounts have undergone a significant shift as GOP members of Congress load up on investments into areas touted by President Trump — in particular Intel ( INTC ) and bitcoin ( BTC-USD ). Lawmaker trading on both sides of the aisle remains controversial, but a longstanding portfolio divide along party lines is clearly evolving. Democrats’ investments have traditionally been tech-heavy in recent years, while GOP holdings often focused on more traditional sectors.

But an exchange-traded fund that allows investors to mirror the aggregate portfolio of Republican lawmakers is perhaps the starkest example of a change on the GOP side. It was long dominated by blue-chip companies like Shell ( SHEL ), Philip Morris ( PM ), and ConocoPhillips ( COP ). The makeup is dramatically different today, with the fund now reporting top five holdings that include Intel, Nvidia ( NVDA ), and the iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF ( IBIT ).

Read more here. US President Trump greets Vice President of China Han Zheng as SpaceX CEO Elon Musk looks on. (Alex Wong/Getty Images) · Alex Wong via Getty Images Today at 11:31 AM UTC Grace O'Donnell Gap stock is falling, and it's because of women's dresses Yahoo Finance’s Brian Sozzi reports: Gap ( GAP ) had a good quarter — except for those dresses over at the Old Navy division.

Shares of the retail icon tanked 15% in premarket trading on Friday as the company slashed its full-year sales outlook amid style challenges in dresses at its Old Navy division in the first quarter. Those challenges have persisted into the second quarter. “We just got off to a weak start in dresses,” Gap CEO Richard Dickson acknowledged on a late Thursday earnings call.

“We just did not have the right fashion and value equation [for dresses]. ” The miss on dresses overshadowed another standout performance for the namesake Gap division, which posted a 10% same-store sales increase on the back of interest in denim and fleece. Banana Republic also continued its turnaround, with a 2% same-store sales gain compared with an unchanged result a year earlier.

Read more here. Today at 2:58 AM UTC Rian Howlett Oil on track for largest single-month drop this decade so far as US-Iran truce extends Bloomberg reports: Oil fell as the US and Iran tentatively agreed to extend a ceasefire by 60 days, with Brent set for the biggest monthly drop since 2020 on optimism that flows through the Strait of Hormuz may resume. Brent ( BZ=F ) dropped below $93 a barrel, down 18% this month, while West Texas Intermediate ( CL=F ) was near $88.

President Donald Trump has yet to agree to the terms of the agreement, according to a person familiar with the matter, after Axios reported that shipping through the strait would be “unrestricted. ” Still, Vice President JD Vance told reporters that it was too early to know “when or if” a deal with Iran would be reached. Earlier, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said only that “the teams have been going back and forth” when pressed if an interim agreement had been clinched.

Crude has weakened in May on speculation some form of accord would be reached, although the warring parties have hailed progress before, only for the stalemate to drag on. During the conflict, the effective closure of Hormuz — which is subject to blockades by Washington and Tehran — has triggered a global energy shock, with millions of barrels of daily oil supply shut off. Read more here.

Today at 12:10 AM UTC Rian Howlett Dell shares surge after-hours as AI hardware sales blasts past analyst expectations Bloomberg reports: Dell Technologies Inc. ( DELL ) shares gained about 40% in extended trading after the hardware maker gave an outlook for annual sales that far surpassed analysts’ estimates, fueled by demand for servers that power artificial intelligence work. Revenue in the fiscal year ending in January 2027 will be about $167 billion, including $60 billion from the sale of AI servers, the Texas-based company said Thursday in a statement.

That’s up from a prior revenue outlook of about $140 billion and topped analysts’ average estimate of $142. 1 billion, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Dell’s servers designed to run AI workloads are attracting customers from companies that rent computing power like CoreWeave Inc.

and Nscale Global Holdings Ltd. , as well as corporate clients and major AI providers. The company booked $24.

4 billion in AI orders and generated $16. 1 billion in AI server sales in the quarter ended May 1, Chief Operating Officer Jeff Clarke said in the statement. “The AI opportunity shows no signs of slowing.

” The shares rose to a high of $420 in late trading after closing at $317. 05. Dell’s server business has been viewed as an AI winner this year, sparking the stock more than 150% higher through Thursday’s close.

Read more here.