New York, May 28, 2026, 20:10 (EDT)
- The S&P 500 closed up 0.58% at 7,563.63, while the Nasdaq climbed 0.91% to 26,917.47. The Dow finished just 0.05% higher at 50,668.97. All three indexes closed at record highs.
- After the market closed at 4 p.m., index trading stayed mostly steady, but Dell leapt 38.86% to $440.25 in late moves.
- PCE inflation for April, which the Fed uses as its main price measure, was up 3.8% on the year. The government also cut its first-quarter GDP growth estimate to 1.6% annualized.
U.S. stocks finished at new highs Thursday and held their ground in after-hours trading. Dell shares jumped late, keeping the AI trade in focus.
Stocks climbed during regular trading after reports said the U.S. and Iran had drafted a deal to extend a ceasefire by 60 days. The agreement still needed sign-off from President Donald Trump, and Iran’s Tasnim news agency reported the text was not final. Gains were at least partly tied to this uncertain geopolitical shift.
That’s in focus as investors are still picking up equities while inflation heats up again and growth is wobblier. The main trade here is straightforward, though hardly without risk: less war threat may pull down energy prices, and AI plus corporate earnings may do enough to prop up pushed-high stock prices.
“Traders are on a hair trigger,” Jamie Cox, managing partner at Harris Financial Group, told Reuters. Cox said markets might want inflation to fall faster than it actually will. Jitania Kandhari, deputy CIO at Morgan Stanley Investment Management, said investors are still focused on earnings and a global economy that’s “relatively resilient.” Reuters
PCE inflation climbed 3.8% for the year through April, the fastest pace since May 2023. Core PCE, which does not count food and energy, came in at 3.3%. That’s far from the Fed’s 2% goal. “Increasingly uncomfortable for the Fed,” is how Olu Sonola, head of U.S. economics at Fitch Ratings, put it. Reuters
Growth failed to reassure investors. First-quarter gross domestic product was revised down to 1.6% from the earlier 2.0%, as both consumer spending and inventories came in lighter than first thought. Gregory Daco, chief economist at EY-Parthenon, said the expansion masked an “uneven economic foundation.” Reuters
AI was the main story in markets today. Shares of Snowflake jumped after the company lifted its full-year revenue target and announced a $6 billion, five-year agreement with Amazon Web Services, its main cloud provider. Datadog and MongoDB climbed, with both benefiting from strong enterprise data spending. Matt Britzman, senior equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said the action shows “how quickly sentiment can turn” when AI actually delivers revenue, not just talk. Reuters
Dell grabbed attention after hours as it upped its annual AI-server revenue forecast to roughly $60 billion, up from $50 billion. The company also increased its full-year topline target to between $165 billion and $169 billion. Shares jumped about 39% in late trading, Reuters said, as buyers looked to data-center expansions and demand for Nvidia-powered servers.
Dell COO Jeff Clarke told analysts on the company’s post-earnings call, “We’re repricing… every day,” as he cited higher costs tied to inflation and memory chip shortages. Melissa Otto, who leads research at S&P Global Visible Alpha, said Dell has “better positioned than rivals” due to its scale and links with suppliers. For investors tracking AI-server demand, Super Micro Computer still serves as a key comparison. Reuters
Eli Lilly gained 4% as CVS Health said it will bring Zepbound coverage back and add Lilly’s Foundayo pill to its coverage lists. CVS said the changes could cut client costs for these drugs by another 10% to 15%. Robert Popovian at Conquest Advisors questioned if those savings will matter for consumers.
Best Buy shares rose after the retailer predicted second-quarter sales ahead of Wall Street. The company said demand was strong for AI-powered phones, gaming consoles, and higher-margin marketplace categories. CFO Matt Bilunas said “material inventory supply constraints” aren’t expected through the rest of the fiscal year. Reuters
Thursday’s rally leaves little margin for error. A failed ceasefire may send oil and inflation higher again, and with the PCE data in, the Fed still isn’t in a rush to cut rates. Stocks at highs show investors are buying on bets of bigger earnings, AI demand and hopes for fewer global shocks. Each of these could get shaky.
