NEW YORK (AP) — The U.S. stock market is holding near its record high Thursday as Wall Street waits for more clues about what will happen in the Iran war before making its next big move.
The S&P 500 rose 0.2%, a day after topping its prior all-time high set in January for its 10th gain in 11 days. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 110 points, or 0.2%, as of 9:35 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was edging 0.1% higher.
Stocks have leaped
more than 10% since hitting a low in late March, driven by hopes for an end to the war or something that could avert a worst-case scenario for the global economy. Now, the wait is on to see if such hopes were prescient or just wishful thinking.
Pakistan’s army chief is set to meet with Iranian officials in Tehran Thursday in a bid to ease tensions in the Middle East and arrange a second round of negotiations between the United States and Iran after almost seven weeks of war.
Oil prices ticked higher, showing that caution still remains in financial markets. The price for a barrel of Brent crude oil, the international standard, rose 1.4% to $96.24. It’s gone from roughly $70 before the war to as high as $119 at times on uncertainty about how long the war will keep oil stuck in the Persian Gulf area and away from customers.
“The key upside risk for the market is that peace talks between the US and Iran break down,” ING Bank strategists Warren Patterson and Ewa Manthey wrote Thursday. “This isn’t an unrealistic scenario, given that US and Iranian demands remain fairly wide apart.”
In the meantime, big U.S. companies are continuing to deliver growth in profits for the start of 2026 that’s even better than analysts expected. Such growth is the lifeblood of the stock market, whose level tends to follow the track of corporate profits over the long term.
Marsh & McLennan rose 2.2%, and Prologis climbed 3.6% after both delivered stronger results than expected.
PepsiCo likewise reported better results than expected, but its stock rose a more modest 0.3%. Customers bought more snacks during the quarter, after the company said in February it would cut prices on Lay’s, Doritos, Cheetos and Tostitos chips to win back people frustrated by high prices.
Technology stocks also broadly got some support after Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., an industry heavyweight, reported stronger revenue and profit for the start of 2026 than analysts expected. TSMC’s Chief Financial Officer Wendell Huang said the company expects strong demand to continue into the spring.
On the losing end of Wall Street was Abbott, which fell 4.1% even though it reported slightly better results than analysts expected. The health care company cut its forecast for profit over the full year, mostly because of its purchase of cancer-screening company Exact Sciences.
Allbirds slumped 26.1%, but that gave back only a portion of its 582% surge from the day before. The company formerly known for sneakers is pivoting to the artificial-intelligence industry and hopes to rent out high-powered chips as a service.
In stock markets abroad, indexes climbed across much of Europe and Asia. Japan’s Nikkei 225 jumped 2.4%, South Korea’s Kospi rallied 2.2% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 1.7% for some of the world’s larger moves.
China on Thursday reported 5% economic growth for the January-March quarter, an acceleration from the previous quarter. While economists say China has largely shrugged off the initial impacts of the Iran war, some are warning its massive export engine could be hit more significantly in the coming months on slower global economic growth.
In the bond market Treasury yields eased a bit after a report showed fewer U.S. workers applied for unemployment benefits last week.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 4.26% from 4.29% late Wednesday.
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AP Business Writers Chan Ho-him and Matt Ott contributed to this report.
