NEW YORK, May 29, 2026, 18:03 EDT
Dow tops 51,000 with tech rally, oil drop helps cool inflation jitters
Stocks finished at new highs Friday. The Dow closed above 51,000 for the first time, ending up 0.7% at 51,032.46. The S&P 500 added 0.2% to 7,580.06 and the Nasdaq rose 0.2% to 26,972.62. Gains in Dell Technologies after its results supported tech, and weaker oil prices took some pressure off inflation.
Stocks closed out a second good month, with markets looking past Iran war headlines and continuing choppy trading in energy. The S&P 500 finished its ninth week higher, the longest streak since 2023. The Nasdaq climbed about 8% in May, and the S&P added 5%.
Oil offered some shelter for investors. U.S. and Iranian negotiators reached a tentative deal to extend the ceasefire for 60 days and start nuclear talks, a U.S. official told AP. President Donald Trump said he will decide on Friday.
Dell shares jumped 32.8% after the company lifted its full-year profit and revenue outlooks, with adjusted earnings at $4.86 a share and $43.8 billion in revenue. AI-optimized server sales, designed for artificial-intelligence workloads, rose over 750% from the prior year. Dell said it was the clear mover for the day.
Dell Chief Operating Officer Jeff Clarke said in a release that the company’s record Q1 performance was driven by “strong in-quarter demand.” Clarke said the “AI opportunity shows no signs of slowing.” The results lifted the AI trade past chipmakers and into servers, storage, and corporate computing hardware. Investopedia
Peers traded higher too. Hewlett Packard Enterprise added 12.6% and Super Micro Computer was up 11.6%. Microsoft gained 5.4%. S&P’s technology sector rose 1.87%. The software services index jumped more than 6%, wiping out losses from earlier this year on AI disruption fears.
“There’s definitely euphoric sentiment in the market around AI. The rally has really been driven by earnings,” said Ohsung Kwon, chief equity strategist at Wells Fargo. Tech names are leading the move and earnings have held up, according to Angelo Kourkafas, senior global strategist at Edward Jones. “But the key question is whether it can be sustained,” Kourkafas wrote. Reuters
Big tech and retail were mixed. Shares of Alphabet slipped 2.5%. Costco gave up 3.9% and Walmart declined 2.6%. Gap sank 15.4% after its annual sales outlook was lowered. American Eagle Outfitters was down 11.8%.
Oil is down, but prices are still elevated. Brent crude dropped 1.7% to close at $91.12 a barrel for August, and U.S. crude for July lost 1.7% at $87.36. Brent is still trading far above the prewar mark near $70 from late February.
That risk remains. A ceasefire could take some pressure off energy and lift corporate margins, but if talks break down, investors are still looking at higher oil, weaker growth, and more inflation—the same mix that weighed on markets earlier in the spring. Fed officials told Reuters the energy shock may not be short-lived. Money markets see the Fed keeping rates unchanged through the year and maybe hiking by a quarter point in December.
Small caps lost ground as investors kept pushing into bigger names connected to AI and software. The Russell 2000 slipped 0.6%. All three major U.S. indexes ended at new record closes.
S&P 500 companies have logged 28% earnings growth for the latest quarter, FactSet data showed, as reported by AP. Most have already reported. With that in the bag, focus is set to return to inflation, consumer trends, and what the Fed does with rates.
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