New York, May 26, 2026, 11:48 EDT
Dow slips as UnitedHealth, Chevron drag; tech lifts S&P, Nasdaq The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 132.03 points, or 0.26%, to 50,447.67 early Tuesday, pushed down by losses in UnitedHealth and Chevron. While the Dow lagged, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq gauges traded higher, with tech stocks leading gains.
The Dow is lagging now while the rest of the market is stronger. Investors came back after Monday’s Memorial Day holiday and bought into semiconductor and AI stocks. But the 30-stock Dow, a price-weighted index, doesn’t have much of that exposure. A few big names can move it more than on the Nasdaq. S&P Dow Jones Indices says the Dow tracks 30 top U.S. companies and swings based on share price, not overall company size.
Wall Street stocks hovered near record highs as traders looked past worries over Middle East peace talks, with AI enthusiasm still in play after U.S. strikes on Iran, Reuters said. At 10:02 a.m. ET, the Dow was up 0.15%, the S&P 500 added 0.71% and the Nasdaq climbed 1.12%. Both the S&P 500 and Russell 2000 hit fresh intraday peaks.
Dow slipped mid-morning. MarketScreener put the index at 50,448.96, off 0.26% as of 11:46 a.m. EDT. UnitedHealth dropped 2.60%, Chevron lost 2.04%, Cisco fell 1.81%, IBM was down 1.59%, and Merck slipped 1.51%. Caterpillar, Honeywell, Salesforce, 3M and Apple were up.
Nasdaq kept pulling most of the weight. Micron gained 13.3%, Marvell Technology rose 7.4%, and both Intel and Qualcomm picked up 1.6%, according to Reuters. The Philadelphia SE Semiconductor index was up 4.1% to a record high. Investors are betting on artificial intelligence—the hardware and chips behind software that automates work—as a key driver for earnings.
Art Hogan, chief market strategist at B Riley Wealth, called it “cautious optimism in markets today,” as traders look for signals the Iran conflict might ease, even as energy and inflation concerns stick around. Brent crude was up as much as 2.7%, holding under $100 a barrel, according to Reuters. Reuters
Investors have gone back to a “risk-on mentality,” said Peter Tuz, president of Chase Investment Counsel in Charlottesville, Virginia. Risk-on means traders are again looking at assets with bigger moves, like growth stocks, rather than staying in safer plays. Reuters
Bond yields eased and stocks got a lift. The 10-year Treasury note yield dropped 8 basis points to 4.493%, according to Reuters. A basis point equals one-hundredth of a percentage point. Lower yields cut pressure on equities, since they often lower borrowing costs and make bonds less attractive compared to stocks.
Oil stayed in focus as the top outside risk. Brent futures gained 3.67% to $99.67 a barrel after U.S. military action in Iran, Reuters said. U.S. crude dropped 3.2% to $93.51, with no WTI settlement on Monday because of the holiday. The split left traders watching the outlook for shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.
Economic data came in a bit soft too. Reuters reported U.S. consumer sentiment slipped in May as inflation weighed, and AP said consumer confidence fell, though not as far as economists thought. That matters with the market near highs.
Dow weakness in health care and energy is part of why the market’s showing isn’t just about gains. The S&P 500 was up 0.8% and the Nasdaq climbed 1.3% at 10:50 a.m. ET, according to AP. The Dow dropped 25 points. Tech and companies tied to fuel moved higher on growing hopes for a deal.
Oil could spike again if Iran talks falter, and that could push inflation fears up and send Treasury yields back higher. Tuz said the headlines right now are “confusing,” which fits Tuesday’s market — AI names showed strength, the Dow lagged, and oil kept driving the action. Reuters
