New York, May 21, 2026, 12:09 EDT
- The Dow swung around the 50,000 mark in Thursday trade as higher oil prices and Treasury yields checked risk appetite.
- Brent crude jumped after renewed doubts over U.S.-Iran diplomacy, reviving inflation concerns.
- Walmart slid on conservative guidance, while Nvidia’s blowout results failed to restart the AI rally.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average wavered around the 50,000 level on Thursday, with Wall Street losing some of the prior day’s rebound as oil prices rose and Nvidia’s latest earnings beat failed to lift the broader market. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq were lower in morning trade, while the Dow moved on both sides of flat.
That matters now because Wednesday’s rally had been built on a softer bond market and a sharp pullback in crude. The Dow had risen 645.47 points, or 1.3%, to close at 50,009.35, while the S&P 500 gained 1.1% and the Nasdaq rose 1.5%, AP data showed.
The turn lower came after Brent crude rose 2.2% to $107.32 a barrel, Reuters reported, following a report that Iran’s Supreme Leader had ordered the country’s near-weapons-grade uranium not be sent abroad. The 10-year Treasury yield, the return investors demand to hold benchmark U.S. government debt, rose to 4.609%; higher yields tend to weigh on stocks by making bonds more competitive and raising borrowing costs.
At 9:58 a.m. ET, Reuters had the Dow down 24.51 points, or 0.05%, at 49,987.34, the S&P 500 down 0.30% and the Nasdaq Composite off 0.46%. AP later showed the Dow up 37 points at 10:30 a.m. Eastern, with the S&P 500 still down 0.3% and the Nasdaq off 0.6%, underscoring the choppy tone.
Walmart was the main drag on the blue-chip average. The retailer fell after keeping annual sales and profit targets in place even as first-quarter net sales climbed 7.1% to $175.7 billion and operating income rose 5% to $7.49 billion. “An affirmed outlook for the full year simply was not enough,” Bryan Hayes, stock strategist at Zacks Investment Research, said. Reuters
The pressure on Walmart also fed a broader consumer story. CFO John David Rainey warned of “somewhat higher retail price inflation” if the cost environment stays elevated, while the company said U.S. comparable sales rose 4.1% and global e-commerce grew 26%. Target, a smaller rival, lifted its annual sales forecast but also warned of a tough macro backdrop. Reuters
Nvidia did not give bulls much cover either. The chipmaker reported record first-quarter revenue of $81.6 billion, up 85% from a year earlier, forecast second-quarter revenue of $91 billion plus or minus 2%, and approved an additional $80 billion share repurchase plan. CEO Jensen Huang said the buildout of AI factories was “accelerating at extraordinary speed,” but the shares slipped as investors looked past another strong print. NVIDIA Newsroom
The competitive issue is starting to matter. Reuters said investors expect Nvidia to face tougher pressure not only from Big Tech customers but also chip rivals Intel and Advanced Micro Devices, a reminder that the AI trade has become more crowded even as earnings remain strong.
Economic data gave the Federal Reserve little reason to rush toward easier policy. Initial jobless claims fell by 3,000 to 209,000 in the week ended May 16, below the 210,000 expected by economists polled by Reuters. Matthew Martin, senior U.S. economist at Oxford Economics, said the labor market was showing “enough stability” for the Fed to keep policy steady. Reuters
Manufacturing looked firmer, but not cleanly bullish. S&P Global’s flash U.S. manufacturing purchasing managers’ index, or PMI, rose to 55.3 in May from 54.5 in April; a reading above 50 means activity is expanding. Chris Williamson, chief business economist at S&P Global Market Intelligence, said the economy may struggle to deliver annualized second-quarter growth of much more than 1%.
The risk is that oil, yields and the Fed all move against stocks at once. If the Strait of Hormuz disruption lasts, energy and input costs could keep inflation elevated, push Treasury yields higher and force investors to price in a more hawkish central bank. That would be a harder setup for richly valued AI shares and for consumer stocks exposed to fuel and food costs.
U.S. equity markets were open as usual on Thursday. The next full U.S. stock-market holiday is Memorial Day on Monday, May 25, while bond markets are set for an early close at 2 p.m. ET on Friday ahead of the long weekend.
