New York, May 25, 2026, 13:02 (EDT)
Stocks are coming off a record Dow close as investors begin a holiday-shortened week. The S&P 500 has clocked its longest weekly winning streak since 2023. Now, the focus turns to Thursday, when inflation data lands and bond traders get their next signal.
U.S. markets didn’t open Monday because of Memorial Day. The New York Stock Exchange shows Monday, May 25, as the market holiday for 2026, and Nasdaq marked the day closed as well. Trading picks up again Tuesday.
Friday’s rally stood out as investors responded to news of progress in Middle East talks and posted strong earnings, which helped calm worries about rising energy prices and sticky inflation. Global shares kept climbing Monday, with U.S. crude tumbling over $4 after President Donald Trump said negotiations to end the war with Iran were moving forward, according to the Associated Press.
S&P 500 finished up 27.75 points, or 0.4%, at 7,473.47 on Friday. Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 294.04 points higher, up 0.6%, at 50,579.70. Nasdaq Composite was up 50.87 points, or 0.2%, at 26,343.97. For the week, the S&P 500 added 0.9%, Dow rose 2.1%, Nasdaq increased 0.5%, and the small-cap Russell 2000 gained 2.7%.
“Fundamentally the picture looks really solid,” James St. Aubin, chief investment officer at Ocean Park Asset Management, told Reuters. He mentioned earnings season and strong economic numbers. St. Aubin noted the “bond market seems to be cooling off,” after long yields pushed stocks down earlier this week. Reuters
Market internals looked stronger than headline index moves. Reuters said nine out of 11 big S&P 500 sectors gained Friday, with healthcare, utilities, industrials, and tech leading. Communication services and consumer staples lagged. NYSE advancers beat decliners by 1.68 to 1. Volume stayed below the 20-session average ahead of the long weekend.
Chip and hardware stocks were in focus again this week. The Philadelphia semiconductor index climbed on Friday. Qualcomm shares popped 12%. Nvidia shares dropped 1.9%. PC makers Dell Technologies and HP also rallied after a strong 27% revenue jump at China’s Lenovo. Dell closed up 17% to a record, HP finished 15% higher.
Oil prices pulled back sharply. U.S. crude slid $4.77 to settle at $91.83 a barrel on Monday. Brent fell $4.86 to $98.68. “Markets are moving from geopolitical fear to maybe a peace dividend,” Stephen Innes said, but noted trade is still tied to the Strait of Hormuz and any deal between the U.S. and Iran. AP News
PCE data is due Thursday in the U.S. The Personal Consumption Expenditures price index tracks consumer prices and is a key inflation gauge for the Fed. March’s PCE rose 3.5% year over year, the Bureau of Economic Analysis said. The next update comes out May 28.
Investors get another look at first-quarter GDP and corporate profits this morning. The BEA’s initial estimate pegged first-quarter real GDP growing at a 2.0% annual rate, a pickup from 0.5% in the prior quarter. The second estimate is set for May 28.
More data comes this week. The Census Bureau posts April durable-goods orders at 8:30 a.m. Thursday, then April new-home sales at 10 a.m. Both numbers matter as investors track the impact of higher rates and energy costs on demand off Wall Street.
Earnings are set to drive individual moves this week. Salesforce is up after the bell Wednesday, and Stifel’s J. Parker Lane says the mood depends on “when Agentforce/Data 360 breaks out.” HP, Marvell, and Snowflake also report after markets close Wednesday. Costco, Dell, Autodesk, and MongoDB report following Thursday’s close. Kiplinger
Calm this week looks shaky with so much hinging on headlines. David Payne and Matthew Housiaux at The Kiplinger Letter said the economy is “bound to suffer” if the Iran war cuts energy exports. A hotter PCE, higher oil, or Treasury yields jumping again could flip Friday’s rally right back to testing if earnings can hold up. Kiplinger
