S&P and Nasdaq tick to new highs

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite closed at new records on Monday, April 27, even as oil rose and the Dow finished lower. (cnbc.com) The S&P 500 added 0.12% to 7,173.91, and the Nasdaq gained 0.20% to 24,887.10. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 62.92 points, or 0.13%, to 49,167.79. (cnbc.com) Both indexes also touched new all-time highs during the session. Gains were limited as stalled U.S.-Iran talks and fresh tension around the Strait of Hormuz pushed energy prices higher. (cnbc.com) West Texas Intermediate crude settled at $96.37 a barrel, up 2.09%, while Brent closed at $108.23, up 2.75%. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said President Donald Trump and his national security team discussed a new Iranian proposal on Monday. (cnbc.com) Investors were also setting up for the busiest stretch of first-quarter earnings season. CNBC reported that five Magnificent Seven companies were due to report this week, with Alphabet, Microsoft, Amazon and Meta on April 29 and Apple on April 30. (cnbc.com) (ajupress.com) That earnings backdrop has helped keep the rally alive. Reuters data cited by Aju Press showed 81% of 139 S&P 500 companies reporting through April 24 had beaten expectations, and LSEG data showed analysts lifting their 2026 earnings-growth forecast to 16.1% from 14.4% earlier in April. (ajupress.com) The Federal Reserve opened its April 28-29 meeting as traders weighed whether Chair Jerome Powell would signal any shift in policy. Aju Press said markets broadly expected the central bank to leave its benchmark rate unchanged at 3.50% to 3.75%. (ajupress.com) By Tuesday morning, the tone had already turned shakier. Charles Schwab said chip stocks were falling after a Wall Street Journal report that OpenAI missed key revenue and user targets, with Arm down 9%, CoreWeave down 7%, Oracle down almost 7%, Advanced Micro Devices down nearly 6%, and Nvidia down almost 3%. (schwab.com) Schwab also said Monday’s advance came on below-average volume and that only three of 11 S&P 500 sectors started the week higher. That left the market at records, but with the next move hinging on earnings, oil and the Fed. (schwab.com)