New York, May 26, 2026, 11:48 (EDT)
- The S&P 500 and Nasdaq traded higher late in the morning as buyers moved into technology and chip stocks. The Dow edged down.
- Micron crossed the $1 trillion market cap mark for the first time. The move put the artificial intelligence trade back in focus.
- Oil and Middle East risk kept pressure on markets. Brent crude was above $100, and consumer confidence fell as inflation worries stuck around.
U.S. stocks edged higher late Tuesday morning. Most indexes were up, with the Nasdaq out front as buyers came back to artificial intelligence chip names, offsetting a weak Dow and new gains in oil prices.
Trading restarted after Monday’s Memorial Day break, leaving investors to digest three days of Middle East news, oil price changes and the continued rally in tech. Nasdaq says Memorial Day, May 25, will be a market holiday again in 2026, with trading resuming the following Tuesday.
S&P 500 rose 0.68% to 7,523.94 and the Nasdaq Composite added 1.13% to 26,642.91, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.17% to 50,492.69, LSEG data showed, via Reuters. Brent crude moved up 4.17% to $100.15. The U.S. 10-year Treasury yield was at 4.487%.
Tech led most of the gains again as AI names kept drawing capital. The move stayed focused but wasn’t small. Investors stuck with chips, memory, and data-center stocks as artificial intelligence — shorthand for software and computing that mimics human decisions — took the spotlight.
“It’s cautious optimism,” said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at B Riley Wealth. Investors are looking for an “off-ramp for this war.” U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said a deal with Tehran could “take a few days.” Iran’s Tasnim news agency said Tehran wants $24 billion in frozen funds released. Reuters
Micron broke above $1 trillion in market cap for the first time, with UBS hiking its price target to $1,625 from $535, Reuters said. That’s the highest target of the 46 brokerages LSEG tracks. The surge put Micron up with Samsung Electronics, already over the $1 trillion line, and SK Hynix, which is getting close. Micron makes memory chips used to move and store data, while Nvidia handles AI processors.
Micron’s move pushed up some chip stocks. Marvell, Intel and Qualcomm traded higher early as well. The Philadelphia SE Semiconductor index reached a record, showing buyers aren’t just focused on big AI stocks, but are looking across the supply chain.
Peter Tuz, president of Chase Investment Counsel in Charlottesville, Virginia, said the market has a “risk-on mentality,” driven by companies showing the “best earnings growth.” Investors keep backing profit momentum. Oil and geopolitics haven’t changed that. Reuters
Eli Lilly moved higher outside tech after it announced plans to buy Curevo, LimmaTech Biologics and Vaccine Company. The deals total almost $4 billion as Lilly pushes into infectious disease prevention. Daniel Skovronsky, the company’s chief scientific and product officer, said Lilly wants to “prevent disease at its source.” Citi analyst Geoffrey Meacham called it a “well-balanced foray into a new area.” Reuters
Consumer confidence dipped again. The Conference Board reported its index slipped to 93.1 in May from a revised 93.8 in April. Chief Economist Dana M. Peterson said the “inflationary impacts of the war in the Middle East intensified.” The data puts more eyes on the rate outlook, since weaker sentiment could weigh on spending and elevated oil keeps price pressure in play. The Conference Board
Investors could be pricing in a happy ending early. If Iran talks break down, Hormuz shipping stays tight, or Brent crude holds over $100 and pushes up gas and freight costs, inflation fears from the current oil shock could come right back and drive yields up. That would hit the AI rally quickly, especially for shares already pricing in long data-center buildouts.
For the moment, breadth kept backing the rally. Reuters said there were more gainers than losers on both the NYSE and Nasdaq earlier Tuesday. The Russell 2000 small-cap index hit an intraday record. Markets were restless, but buyers kept picking growth stocks.
